Studying Human Origins: Disciplinary History and EpistemologyRaymond Corbey, Wil Roebroeks This history of human origin studies covers a wide range of disciplines. This important new study analyses a number of key episodes from palaeolithic archaeology, palaeoanthropology, primatology and evolutionary theory in terms of various ideas on how one should go about such reconstructions and what, if any, the uses of such historiographical exercises can be for current research in these disciplines. Their carefully argued point is that studying the history of palaeoanthropological thinking about the past can enhance the quality of current research on human origins. The main issues in the present volume are the uses of disciplinary history in terms of present-day research concerns, the relative weight of cultural and other 'external' contexts, and continuity and change in theoretical perspectives. The book's overall approach is an epistemological one. It does not, in other words, primarily address anthropological data as such, but our ways of handling such data in terms of our most fundamental, but usually quite implicit theoretical presuppositions. |
Contents
Does disciplinary history matter? An introduction | 1 |
Myths narratives and the uses of history | 9 |
How to benefit from received ideas | 21 |
On normalizing the Palaeolithic An orthodoxy questioned | 29 |
From Sangiran to Olduvai 19371960 The quest for centres of hominid origins in Asia and Africa | 45 |
Biases and double standards in paleoanthropology | 67 |
On savages and simians Continuity and discontinuity in the history of human origin studies | 77 |
Taxonomic revolutions and the animalhuman boundary | 97 |
Adaptationism versus cladism in human evolution studies | 107 |
Epistemic attitudes and paleoanthropology A case study | 123 |
Observations on the epistemology of human origins research | 139 |
Does disciplinary history matter? An epilogue | 147 |
153 | |
Other editions - View all
Studying Human Origins: Disciplinary History and Epistemology Raymond Corbey,Wil Roebroeks No preview available - 2001 |
Studying Human Origins: Disciplinary History and Epistemology Raymond Corbey,Wil Roebroeks No preview available - 2001 |
Common terms and phrases
19th century Africa analogy analysis ancestor apes approach argue argument Asia Aurignacian australopithecines behaviour biological bipedalism Bowler brain Cartmill changes chimpanzee cladistics claims conceptual context continuity critical Darwin debate discipline discovery early empirical empiricism empiricist epistemic attitude epistemology ethnographic ethnology European evidence evolutionary example explain fact fossil Fraassen genetic genus Homo Gros Clark historians history of archaeology history of science hominid Homo erectus Homo habilis Homo sapiens human antiquity human evolution human origins research hypotheses ideas important inference interpretation Keith knowledge Landau logical Lubbock Mayr McGrew Middle Palaeolithic modern humans morphological nature Neanderthals observable palaeoanthropology paradigm past patterns philosophy of science phylogenetic Piltdown practitioners prehistoric archaeology present primatology primitive problem question races racial reasons Robinson Roebroeks savages scientific scientists similar social speciation species Stoczkowski structure Tattersall taxa taxon taxonomic theory Theunissen tion typological thinking unobservables Upper Palaeolithic volume WWII Wylie
References to this book
The Evolution of Modern Humans in Africa: A Comprehensive Guide Pamela R. Willoughby Limited preview - 2007 |