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Foundations of Anthropological Theory
From Classical Antiquity to Early Modern Europe

“This splendid selection demonstrates the issues to which contemporary anthropology is heir, and thus serves as an insightful reminder that the topics raised are of more than mere historical concern.”
—Lawrence Rosen, Princeton University

Robert Launay’s critical introduction and carefully selected texts brilliantly portray how anthropology’s predecessors, European and non-European, framed central issues in understanding their own and other societies. Foundations of Anthropological Theory is must reading – and also a pleasure.
—Dale F. Eickelman, Dartmouth College

Robert Launay (Edited by), R Launay (Author)

9781405187756, Wiley

Paperback / softback, published 19 February 2010

312 pages
24.9 x 17.3 x 1.8 cm, 0.553 kg

Foundations of Anthropological Theory presents a selection of key texts that reflect the broad range of anthropological thought on human behavior, from Herodotus and Ibn Battuta to Adam Smith and Adam Ferguson.

  •  Enables the reader to situate the modern discipline of anthropology within the larger context of intellectual history
  •  Features key texts from the ancient and medieval worlds through to the Enlightenment
  • Considers the presumptive rights of Europeans to judge the inherent moral worth of non-Western civilizations
  • Provides fascinating insights into the ways historians, philosophers, missionaries, and even writers of fiction have made valuable contributions to modern anthropological inquiry

Acknowledgments x

Note on the Text xii

Introduction 1
Robert Launay

Part I The Ancient World 29

1 The Histories of Herodotus 31
Herodotus

2 Germany 39
Tacitus

Part II The Middle Ages 47

Section II (a) European Travelers 49

3 The Travels of Marco Polo 51
Marco Polo

4 The Travels of Sir John Mandeville 63
John Mandeville Copyrighted Material

Section II (b) The Muslim World 71

5 Travels in Asia and Africa, 1325–1354 73
Ibn Battuta

6 The Muqaddimah 84
Ibn Khaldun

Part III The Renaissance 93

7 History of a Voyage to the Land of Brazil, otherwise Called America 95
Jean de Léry

8 Of Cannibals 106
Michel de Montaigne

9 Method for the Easy Comprehension of History 114
Jean Bodin

10 Letter to Joseph Scaliger 125
Henri Lancelot Voisin de la Popelinière

Part IV The Seventeenth Century 127

Section IV (a) Jesuits and the Comparative Perspective 129

11 Natural and Moral History of the Indies 131
José de Acosta

12 Relation of What Occurred in New France, in the Year 1634 143
Paul Le Jeune

13 Memoirs and Remarks … Made in Above Ten Years Travels through the Empire of China 151
Louis Le Comte

14 Customs of the American Indians Compared with the Customs of Primitive Times 159
Joseph François Lafitau

Section IV (b) Globetrotters 171

15 Travels in Persia, 1673–1677 173
John Chardin

16 A New Voyage Round the World 183
William Dampier

Part V The Enlightenment 193

Section V (a) The Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns 195

17 Of Heroic Virtue 197
William Temple

18 Of the Origin of Fables 207
Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle

Section V (b) Putting Words in Their Mouths: Dialogues and Letters 215

19 New Voyages to North America 217
Baron de Lahontan

20 Persian Letters 225
Montesquieu

21 The Supplément au Voyage de Bougainville 228
Denis Diderot

Section V (c) Universal History: France 241

22 The Spirit of Laws 243
Montesquieu

23 A Discourse on Inequality 251
Jean-Jacques Rousseau

24 The Philosophy of History 260
Voltaire

25 The A, B, C 265
Voltaire

Section V (d) Universal History: Scotland 271

26 Lectures on Jurisprudence 273
Adam Smith

27 An Essay on the History of Civil Society 277
Adam Ferguson

Author Index 289

Subject Index 291

Subject Areas: Archaeology [HD]
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