Foundations of Social Sciences: Ethnocentrism, Cultural Relativism, and Anthropological Disciplines

Notes

Introduction to Social Sciences {Ted Talk: Dangers of Single story} Ethnocentrism - Attitude that ones own culture, society group is inherently superior to all others (judging other cultures by your own cultural standards) Inability to see common humanity and human conditions Cultural Relativism - Basis of relativism is to study each culture as a separate entity not related to other cultures (Franz Boas) Alligator River story Ranking Rank Name Reason 1 Gregory He has some strong morals, when he heard that Abigail stole in order to help him, he got upset and I think that shows that he doesn’t support dishonesty. 2 Ivan Ivan didn’t help Abigail cross the river, which is selfish, but he also didn’t harm anyone. Compared to others, his actions caused the least damage 3 Sinbad He was like taking advantage of the fact she needed help. 4 Abigail Abigail makes bad choices, including agreeing to steal and later laughing while Gregory is beaten. 5 Slug Slug is the worst character because he violently beats Gregory and breaks his glasses again. The Social Science Disciplines Social sciences use research and analysis to examine human behavior and determine why people act the way they do Techni...