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the significance of ethics in social life
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In my day in the field, I will be writing in the point of view of the person filming Professor Chagnon, as well as pictures while he does his research on the Yanomamo. I am a resent male graduate with a major in filming and major in anthropology helping Professor Chagnon in his studies. For this trip, we will be focusing on the Yanomami warfare, and violence within the village to give us a better understanding on their culture, and why the resort to raids and violence. It will be taking place during the spring, and we will mainly be discussing with the men. B. Sources Chagnon, N. A. (1968). Yanomamo: the fierce people. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. C. A Day In The Field I look up to Professor Chagnon I admired his dedication to studying the culture of the Yanomamo, when he invited me to join him on one of his trips to film his research, I was over joyed and nervous. Professor Chagnon warned me of the possible dangers that could happen while we were with the Yanomamo, since our main focus on this trip is to get a better understanding of why raids and violence accurse, and what it tells us about the Yanomano and their culture. It is nine in the morning, Professor Chagnon informs me of the information and data we hope to collect today, the three main forms of violence that accrue in and out side of each village, “chest pounding, side slapping and club fights” (Chagnon, 118) Professor Chagnon instructs me to follow him with the camera and film equipment. The Professor stops as he watch’s two men pounding each others chests, I begin preparing my camera to talk a photo when a friend of Professor Chagnon come’s over to say hello Professor Chagnon greets his friend an introduces me, Professor Chagnon as his friends what ... ... middle of paper ... ...en a person enters a society different from their own. This is demonstrated with the narrator, though he understands the Yanomamos way of life, he does reveal moments of being uncomfortable with the way the society works. Culture Relativism: putting aside any judgment or beliefs against a culture different from one’s own culture. In the narrators experience he is able to collect his thoughts and understand that their way of life is different from his own and that he must not judge them in order to truly understand them. Exchange: trading goods between two people, were both benefits. However, thought the narrator had not seen and exchange he did however heard about one of Professor Chagnon’s experiences with someone wanting to trade his knife with him. Works Cited Chagnon, N. A. (1968). Yanomamo: the fierce people. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Ethnocentrism is the belief of one’s culture as superior opposed to other cultures. Ethnocentrism is a single minded. Cultural relativism in contrast to ethnocentrism, is the ability to view certain practices of a culture in the mentality of the the culture itself. Cultural relativism is more understanding with an absence of judgement. The TED talk from Chimamanda Adichi regarding, “The Danger of a Single Story” illustrates how we all can allow a one-sided story can isolate our thinking. She talks about how throughout her life she experienced many single sided stories that could have influenced her life; however, she learned from them. Adichi uses the analogy of a single story to equate to ethnocentrism. An example she used was when she was
Being a culture under pressure from both sides of the contact zone, there needs to be passion and emotion or else the culture might disappear into history. Anzaldua’s text makes great use of passion and emotion while merging the ideas of multiple cultures together through the tough experiences in her life. Autoethnographic texts give perspective to outsiders on how a culture functions from the inside point of view. Anzaldua’s “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” excellently portrays her culture’s plight and creates a fiery passionate entrance for her culture in their uprising through the contact zone.
The book is about the fieldwork that Dr. Chagnon worked on when he went to the Yanomamo. He went through many difficult and harsh times. From the start things weren’t great; he almost decided to go back. The first touch with the Yanomamo was very harsh. They were very intimidating and close minded.
By analyzing the Kawaiisu, a Great Basin Native tribe, I want to explore cultural wonders and observe their society as I compare an aspect of interest with that of another culture in the world, the Chuuk. Comparing different societies of the world will allow me to successfully learn about the Kawaiisu people in a more detailed and open minded manner. Populations all around the world throughout time have had different views and traditions of beliefs. Through this project, I hope to unravel and gain an understanding of different perspectives and ways of life.
As a viewer, the documentary’s intention to inform is more completely fulfilled by research conducted beyond the scope of the camera lens. Had I never written this paper, for instance, the reason for all the violence embedded within the subject matter would remain as enigmatic as the documentary itself.
The 1974 documentary, A Man Called "Bee": Studying the Yanomamo, was directed by Timothy Asch and Napoleon Chagnon and filmed on location with the Yanomamo peoples in South America. In this documentary anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon endeavors to study Yanomamo tribal growth and expansion. According to the film, Yanomamo villages are dispersed throughout Venezuelan and Brazilian forests and total about a hundred and fifty. (Asch, 1974)
Saitoti, Tepilit Ole. The Worlds of a Maasai Warrior. Los Angeles, California: University of California Press, 1986.
To introduce the conflict of this story, Danticat recounts the public execution of two rebels, Numa and Drouin, by the Haitian government. In doing so,
Napoleon Chagnon has spent about 60 months since 1964 studying the ‘foot people’ of the Amazon Basin known as the Yanomamo. In his ethnography, Yanomamo, he describes all of the events of his stay in the Venezuelan jungle. He describes the “hideous” appearance of the Yanomamo men when first meeting them, and their never-ending demands for Chagnon’s foreign goods, including his food. There are many issues that arise when considering Chagnon’s Yanomamo study. The withholding of genealogical information by the tribesmen, and how Chagnon was able to obtain his information is an interesting and significant aspect of this study. Why did Chagnon feel that this genealogical information was important? And was Chagnon’s choice to study the Yanomamo, despite their hesitancy to cooperate, a wise and ethical one?
After analyzing cultural relativism over the semester, I have come to the conclusion that cultural relativism under anthropological analysis defines every single culture with some aspect of worth as viewed by an individual within that society. Franz Boas, termed the “Father of American Anthropology”, first introduced the concept of cultural relativism. He wanted people to understand the way certain cultures conditioned people to interact with the world around them, which created a necessity to understand the culture being studied. In my words, cultural relativism is the concept that cultures should be viewed from the people among that culture. When studied by anthropologists, cultural relativism is employed to give all cultures an equal
Spreading along seventy thousand square miles in the Amazon forest, the Yanomami tribe resides and maintains their culture without intrusion. Their culture has evolved just like that of a modern society, but their way of life is very different. The tribe chooses to live in communal housing; large round dwellings called shaponos. The shaponos are made out of wood and are completely built by the tribe’s people (1). Fam...
In explaining Cultural Relativism, it is useful to compare and contrast it with Ethical Relativism. Cultural Relativism is a theory about morality focused on the concept that matters of custom and ethics are not universal in nature but rather are culture specific. Each culture evolves its own unique moral code, separate and apart from any other. Ethical Relativism is also a theory of morality with a view of ethics similarly engaged in understanding how morality comes to be culturally defined. However, the formulation is quite different in that from a wide range of human habits, individual opinions drive the culture toward distinguishing normal “good” habits from abnormal “bad” habits. The takeaway is that both theories share the guiding principle that morality is bounded by culture or society.
Culture Relativism; what is it? Culture Relativism states that we cannot absolute say what is right and what is wrong because it all depends in the society we live in. James Rachels however, does not believe that we cannot absolute know that there is no right and wrong for the mere reason that cultures are different. Rachels as well believes that “certain basic values are common to all cultures.” I agree with Rachels in that culture relativism cannot assure us that there is no knowledge of what is right or wrong. I believe that different cultures must know what is right and what is wrong to do. Cultures are said to be different but if we look at them closely we can actually find that they are not so much different from one’s own culture. Religion for example is a right given to us and that many cultures around the world practices. Of course there are different types of religion but they all are worshipped and practice among the different culture.
Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism are two contrasting terms that are displayed by different people all over the world. Simply put, ethnocentrism is defined as “judging other groups from the perspective of one’s own cultural point of view.” Cultural relativism, on the other hand, is defined as “the view that all beliefs are equally valid and that truth itself is relative, depending on the situation, environment, and individual.” Each of these ideas has found its way into the minds of people worldwide. The difficult part is attempting to understand why an individual portrays one or the other. It is a question that anthropologists have been asking themselves for years.
Inspector Solomon Makaye; also known as ‘Fats’ Makaye is a police officer to which this essay will be centered around (revised from A Night on the Town: chapter twelve). Inspector Makaye is the oldest man in his unit (situated in Ivory Park) as well as the senior leader in his team (Altbeker 2005, p. 201-202). His general attitude towards his work and his role as a policeman is th...