Boas Atheoretical Essay

Boas is considered the father of anthropology in certain circles, yet many anthropologists consistently criticize his research. Scholars like Moberg describe his ideologies as disorganized and “an amalgam of unrelated scraps.” (Moberg, 2013, 153) Looking into Boas’ history, ambiguous patterns reveal themselves in how he elaborates on his beliefs. His beliefs show a common theme of assumption and area for discussion, yet that ambiguity does not dissolve the strides in research that he made. Boas is atheoretical, but it does not devalue his ethno-methodical thought process within his research. Ethnomethology refers to the research method focused on the way that participants in a social setting create and sustain a sense of reality. Many of Boas’ ideologies revolved around his concerns of how the varied individual and cultural characteristics of a group affected their perceptions of reality (Moberg, 2013, 142). This methodology shows in his discussions on how one culture cannot be generalized or diminished by another. He viewed culture as being undefinable in the idea that it can be defined through the discerning lens of a ‘higher’ culture’s views. A culture’s qualities must be

He often passed aside theories and common ideologies of past evolutionists as unsupported assumptions. Meanwhile, he also let his ideals not fully cemented down, focusing fieldwork and discussion with other groups as the major fundamental piece to his thoughts (Moberg, 2013, 153). While he kept the discussion open, Boas emphasized his research and ideologies constantly, never allowing them to be generalized. This activity spoke to his activism in different rights issues, connecting to how these ideas were important and could not be generalized by the bigger society. His theoretical explanations may have faced debate, but they did not face