ANTHROPOLOGY – THE SCIENCE OF MAN

Анотація

Despite its old name created by Aristotle, anthropology itself is not an ancient science; in a modern sense it is actually one of the youngest. Nowadays we understand anthropology as the study of various aspects of humans within past and present societies. Uniquely for a field of science, anthropology is not characterised by a natural unity; its different branches differ by their names from one country and national tradition to another. A paediatrician measuring a child; a biochemist studying human molecules; a person tape-recording oral traditions – all may be called anthropologists. According to Sol Tax (1955), anthropology is simply an association of people who have agreed to continue in communication with each other. However, belonging to this indefinite branch of science gives us an opportunity to receive a holistic picture of the processes happening in the most important object of research – in man.