Convention, Translation, and Understanding: Philosophical Problems in the Comparative Study of Culture

By Robert Feleppa

Book Overview

This book surveys several theoretical controversies in anthropology that revolve around reconciling the objective description of culture with the influence of inquirer interests and conceptions. It relates them to discussions by followers of W.V. Quine who see the problems of anthropological inquiry as indicative of conceptual problems in the basic assumptions operative in the discipline, and in the study of language in general. Feleppa offers a revised view of the nature and function of translation in anthropology that gives a plausible account of the problems that traditional semantics introduces into anthropology, while avoiding the severe methodological import Quine envisions.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0887066747
• ISBN13: 9780887066740
• Release Date: July 1988
• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Length: 317 Pages
• Weight: 0.98 lbs.
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher