Claude Lévi-Strauss

Claude Lévi-Strauss (pronounced |/klod levi stʁos/) (born November 28, 1908) is a French anthropologist who became one of the twentieth century's greatest intellectuals by developing structuralism as a method of understanding human society and culture. Claude Lévi-Strauss - Biography. Claude Lévi-Strauss is an anthropologist best known for his development of structural anthropology. He was born in Brussels and studied law and philosophy at the Sorbon ...

Including:

• Claude Lévi-Strauss - Biography
• Claude Lévi-Strauss - Anthropological theories
• Claude Lévi-Strauss - Selected bibliography

Read more here: » Claude Lévi-Strauss: Encyclopedia - Claude Lévi-Strauss

Lévi-Strauss's theories are set forth in Structural Anthropology (1958). Briefly, he considers culture a system of symbolic communication, to be investigated with methods that others have used more narrowly in the discussion of novels, political speeches, sports, and movies. His reasoning makes best sense against the background of an earlier generation's social theory. He wrote about this relationship for decades. A preference for "functionalist" explanations dominated the social sciences from the turn of the century th ...

See also:

Claude Lévi-Strauss, Claude Lévi-Strauss - Biography, Claude Lévi-Strauss - Anthropological theories, Claude Lévi-Strauss - Selected bibliography

Read more here: » Claude Lévi-Strauss: Encyclopedia II - Claude Lévi-Strauss - Anthropological theories

The word mythology (from the Greek μυϑολογία mythología, "storytelling" [1]) literally means the (oral) retelling of myths – stories that a particular culture believes to be true and that use the supernatural to interpret natural events and to explain the nature of the universe and humanity. In modern usage, "mythology" is either the body of myths from a particular culture or religion (as in Greek mythology, Egyptian mythology or Norse mythology) or the ...

Including:

• Mythology - Definition
• Mythology - Religion and mythology
• Mythology - Classifications
• Mythology - Related concepts
• Mythology - Formation of myths
• Mythology - Myths as depictions of historical events
• Mythology - Other theories
• Mythology - Modern mythology
• Mythology - Myths by region
• Mythology - Africa
• Mythology - Asia non-Middle East
• Mythology - Australia and Oceania
• Mythology - Europe
• Mythology - Middle East
• Mythology - North America
• Mythology - South America and Mesoamerica
• Mythology - Mythological archetypes
• Mythology - Mythological creatures
• Mythology - Books on mythology

Read more here: » Mythology: Encyclopedia - Mythology

Louis Pierre Althusser (October 16, 1918 - October 23, 1990) was a Marxist philosopher. He was born in Algeria and studied at the prestigious École Normale Supérieure in Paris, where he eventually became Professor of Philosophy. He was a leading academic proponent of the French Communist Party and his arguments were a response to multiple threats to the ideological foundations of that socialist project. These included both the threat from an empiricism which was beginning to invade Marxist sociology and economics, and a threa ...

Including:

• Louis Althusser - Biographical information
• Louis Althusser - Early Life
• Louis Althusser - Health
• Louis Althusser - Post-War
• Louis Althusser - 1980s
• Louis Althusser - Thought
• Louis Althusser - The 'Epistemological Break'
• Louis Althusser - Practices
• Louis Althusser - Contradiction and Overdetermination
• Louis Althusser - Ideological State Apparatuses
• Louis Althusser - Influence

Read more here: » Louis Althusser: Encyclopedia - Louis Althusser

In order to consider mythology, it is first necessary to consider what is meant by the term myth. Myths are generally narratives passed down traditionally intended to explain the universal and local beginnings ("creation myths" and "founding myths"), natural phenomena, inexplicable cultural conventions, and anything else for which no simple explanation presents itself. Not all myths need have this explicatory purpose, however. Myths are by definition sacred and usually involve a supernatural force or deity. Many legends and narratives passed down orally from gener ...

See also:

Mythology, Mythology - Definition, Mythology - Religion and mythology, Mythology - Classifications, Mythology - Related concepts, Mythology - Formation of myths, Mythology - Myths as depictions of historical events, Mythology - Other theories, Mythology - Modern mythology, Mythology - Myths by region, Mythology - Africa, Mythology - Asia non-Middle East, Mythology - Australia and Oceania, Mythology - Europe, Mythology - Middle East, Mythology - North America, Mythology - South America and Mesoamerica, Mythology - Mythological archetypes, Mythology - Mythological creatures, Mythology - Books on mythology

Read more here: » Mythology: Encyclopedia II - Mythology - Definition

Mauss' views on the nature of gift exchange have not been without their critics. Testart (1998) for example argues that there are "free" gifts, such as passers-by giving money to beggars in e.g. a large Western city. Donor and receiver do not know each other and are unlikely to ever meet again. In this context, the donation certainly creates no obligation on the side of the beggar to reciprocate; neither the donor nor the beggar have such an expectation. Moreover, the transaction does not establish a relationship between the two, much less a ...

See also:

Marcel Mauss, Marcel Mauss - Background, Marcel Mauss - Theoretical Views, Marcel Mauss - Critiques, Marcel Mauss - Legacy, Marcel Mauss - Bibliography

Read more here: » Marcel Mauss: Encyclopedia II - Marcel Mauss - Critiques

Race - Origins of modern humans. see also single-origin hypothesis, multiregional hypothesis. Any biological model for race must account for the development of racial differences during human evolution. For much of the 20th century, however, anthropologists relied on an incomplete fossil record for reconstructing human evolution. Their models seldom provided a firm basis for drawing inferences about the origin of races. Modern research in molecular biology, however, has provided evolutio ...

See also:

Race, Race - Historical origins of race, Race - History of the term, Race - History of race research, Race - 20th- and 21st-century debates over race, Race - Summary of different definitions of race, Race - The origins patterns and physical manifestations of human genetic variation, Race - Origins of modern humans, Race - Distribution of variation, Race - Substructure in the human population, Race - Physical variation in humans, Race - Social interpretation of physical variation, Race - Incongruities of racial classifications, Race - Ethnicity as a way of categorizing people, Race - Ancestry as a way of categorizing people, Race - Current disagreement across disciplines, Race - Case studies in the social construction of race, Race - Race in the United States, Race - Race in Brazil, Race - Practical uses of race, Race - Race in politics and ethics, Race - Race and intelligence, Race - Race in biomedicine, Race - Race in law enforcement, Race - Footnotes

Read more here: » Race: Encyclopedia II - Race - The origins patterns and physical manifestations of human genetic variation

Althusser's earlier works include the influential volume Reading Capital, which collects the work of Althusser and his students on an intensive philosophical re-reading of Marx's Capital. The book reflects on the philosophical status of Marxist theory as "critique of political economy," and on its object. The current English edition of this work includes only the essays of Althusser and Étienne Balibar, while the original French edition contains additional contributions from Jacques Ranciere and Pierre Macherey, among others. ...

See also:

Louis Althusser, Louis Althusser - Biographical information, Louis Althusser - Early Life, Louis Althusser - Health, Louis Althusser - Post-War, Louis Althusser - 1980s, Louis Althusser - Thought, Louis Althusser - The 'Epistemological Break', Louis Althusser - Practices, Louis Althusser - Contradiction and Overdetermination, Louis Althusser - Ideological State Apparatuses, Louis Althusser - Influence

Read more here: » Louis Althusser: Encyclopedia II - Louis Althusser - Thought

Levi-Strauss took many of his ideas from structural linguistics (Ferdinand de Saussure--who saw in the structure of language a series of oppositions or opposites--and Roman Jakobson) as well as from Émile Durkheim and particularly Marcel Mauss. Saussure argued that linguists needed to move beyond the recording of parole (individual speech acts) and come to an understanding of langue, the underlying structural patterns (grammar) of a language. Levi-Strauss applied this distinction in his search for the fundamental mental ...

See also:

Structural anthropology, Structural anthropology - The Structural Anthropology of Lévi-Strauss, Structural anthropology - British Neo-Structuralism, Structural anthropology - Critiques of Structural Anthropology

Read more here: » Structural anthropology: Encyclopedia II - Structural anthropology - The Structural Anthropology of Lévi-Strauss

In order to consider mythology, it is first necessary to consider what is meant by the term myth. The ancient Greek Μυθος originally meant simply word or speech, and by extension, a story or narrative. This quickly took on the sense of fiction, and both Pindar (d. 443 BC) and Plato (d. ca. 347 BC) contrast Μυθος with Λογος as "historical truth." Many ancient usages of Μυθος are specifically as fiction; see here for details in the Liddell-Scott- ...

See also:

Mythology, Mythology - What is mythology?, Mythology - Religion and mythology, Mythology - Classifications, Mythology - Related concepts, Mythology - Formation of myths, Mythology - Myths as depictions of historical events, Mythology - Other theories, Mythology - Modern mythology, Mythology - Myths by region, Mythology - Africa, Mythology - Asia non-Middle East, Mythology - Australia and Oceania, Mythology - Europe, Mythology - Middle East, Mythology - North America, Mythology - South America and Mesoamerica, Mythology - Mythological archetypes, Mythology - Mythological creatures, Mythology - Books on mythology

Read more here: » Mythology: Encyclopedia II - Mythology - What is mythology?

A meaning is a set of thoughts that people take symbols to have. Meanings can do many things, such as provoke a certain idea, or denote a certain real-world entity. Meanings can be linguistic and non-linguistic. Linguistic meaning is any meaning that words and other items of language have. Non-linguistic meaning is whatever meaning can be conveyed without the use of language. Meanings can be presented through various different mediums, or vehicles of communication. The kind of medium that is used determines ...

Including:

• Meaning - Philosophical approaches
• Meaning - Gottlob Frege
• Meaning - Saul Kripke
• Meaning - Meaning as use
• Meaning - Translation
• Meaning - Linguistic approaches
• Meaning - Semantics
• Meaning - Semiotics
• Meaning - Pragmatics

Read more here: » Meaning: Encyclopedia - Meaning

A totem is any natural or supernatural object, being or animal which has personal symbolic meaning to an individual and to whose phenomena and energy one feels closely associated with during one's life. A simplified dramatic example of this belief in practice is in the Walt Disney Pictures animated film, Brother Bear. In the film, a boy from a proto-Inuit tribe receives a totem of the B ...

Including:

• Totem - Totemism
• Totem - North American totem poles
• Totem - Ancient totem culture in Sanxingdui China
• Totem - Totems in Zimbabwe

Read more here: » Totem: Encyclopedia - Totem

1908 (MCMVIII) is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). 1908 - Events. 1908 - January-February. January 1 - British Harry Bensley leaves for his would-be trip around the world pushing a pram and wearing an iron mask, beginning from the Trafalgar Square January 1 - A ball signifying New Year's Day drops in New York City's Times Square for the first time January 8 - A train collision occurs in ...

Including:

• 1908 - Events
• 1908 - January-February
• 1908 - April-June
• 1908 - July-December
• 1908 - unknown dates
• 1908 - Births
• 1908 - January
• 1908 - February
• 1908 - March
• 1908 - April
• 1908 - May
• 1908 - June-July
• 1908 - August-September
• 1908 - October-December
• 1908 - Unknown date
• 1908 - Deaths
• 1908 - Marriages
• 1908 - Nobel Prizes

Read more here: » 1908: Encyclopedia - 1908

The 20th century brought with it upheavals that produced a series of conflicting developments within philosophy over the basis of knowledge and the validity of various absolutes. With classical certainties thought to be overthrown, and new social, economic, scientific, ethical, and logical problems, 20th-century philosophy was set for a series of attempts variously to reform, preserve, alter, abolish, previously conceived limits. Philosophy of science, philosophy of mathematics, and epistemology furthered seemingly antagonistic tenden ...

Including:

• 20th-century philosophy - List of philosophers
• 20th-century philosophy - Philosophical schools and tendencies
• 20th-century philosophy - Quasi-philosophical or politically-philosophical movements schools and tendencies

Read more here: » 20th-century philosophy: Encyclopedia - 20th-century philosophy

Mana is a traditional term and a concept among the speakers of Oceanic languages, including Melanesians, Polynesians and Māori. It is an impersonal force or quality said to reside in people, animals and inanimate objects which provide an observer with a sense of wonder or respect. In anthropological discourse, mana as a generalized concept has attained a significant amount of interest; often understood as the precursor to genuine religion. It has commonly been interpreted as "the stuff of which magic is formed," although this vie ...

Including:

• Mana - Mana in Oceanic culture
• Mana - Universal archetype
• Mana - Similar cultural concepts
• Mana - Mana in anthropological discourse
• Mana - Mana in fantasy

Read more here: » Mana: Encyclopedia - Mana

Algirdas Julius Greimas, or Algirdas Julien Greimas (born March 9, 1917 in Tula, died 1992 in Paris), was a linguist who contributed to the theory of semiotics, and also researched Lithuanian mythology. Greimas studied law in Lithuania, and linguistics in Grenoble (1936-1939). In 1939 he returned to Lithuania for his military service. In 1944 he returned to France, and in 1949 he received his PhD from the Sorbonne. He lectured at the universities of Alexandria where he met Roland Barthes with whom he maintained a close r ...

Read more here: » Algirdas Julien Greimas: Encyclopedia - Algirdas Julien Greimas

Semiotics, or semiology, is the study of signs, both individually and grouped in sign systems. It includes the study of how meaning is made and understood. Semioticians also sometimes examine how organisms, no matter how big or small, make predictions about and adapt to their semiotic niche in the world (see Semiosis). Semiotics theorises at a general level about signs, while the study of the communication of information ...

Including:

• Semiotics - Clarification of terms
• Semiotics - History
• Semiotics - Some important semioticians
• Semiotics - Current applications
• Semiotics - Branches
• Semiotics - Select bibliography

Read more here: » Semiotics: Encyclopedia - Semiotics

Mauss was born in Epinal to a Jewish family, and studied philosophy at Bordeaux, where Durkheim was teaching at the time and agregated in 1893. Instead of taking the usual route of teaching at a lycee, however, Mauss moved to Paris and took up the study of comparative religion and particularly Sanskrit. His first publication in 1896 marked the beginning of a prolific career that would produce severa ...

See also:

Marcel Mauss, Marcel Mauss - Background, Marcel Mauss - Theoretical Views, Marcel Mauss - Critiques, Marcel Mauss - Legacy, Marcel Mauss - Bibliography

Read more here: » Marcel Mauss: Encyclopedia II - Marcel Mauss - Background

Greek mythology comprises the collected narratives of Greek gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines, originally created and spread within an oral-poetic tradition. Our surviving sources of mythology are literary reworkings of this oral tradition, supplemented by interpretations of iconic imagery, sometimes modern ones, sometimes ancient ones, as myth was a means for later Greeks themselves to throw light on cult practices and traditions that were no longer explicable. The historian must sometimes deduce from hints in imagery, such as in ...

Including:

• Greek mythology - Nature and sources of Greek mythology
• Greek mythology - An overview
• Greek mythology - The age of gods
• Greek mythology - The age of gods and men
• Greek mythology - The age of heroes
• Greek mythology - Theories of origin
• Greek mythology - Did the Greeks believe their myths?
• Greek mythology - Hellenistic rationalism
• Greek mythology - Syncretizing trends
• Greek mythology - Belles and Beaus of Greek Mythology
• Greek mythology - Modern interpreters
• Greek mythology - Greek cosmology
• Greek mythology - Related subjects
• Greek mythology - Sources

Read more here: » Greek mythology: Encyclopedia - Greek mythology

Schools Anarcho-capitalism Anarcho-communism Anarcho-primitivism Anarcho-syndicalism Christian anarchism Eco-anarchism Individualist anarchism Mutualism Anarchism in culture Anarchism and religion Anarchism and society Anarchism and the arts Anarcho-punk Anarchist theory Anarchism and capitalism Anarchism and Marxism Anarchist economics Anarchist law Anarchist symbolism Anarchism without adjectives P ...

Including:

• Anarcho-primitivism - Concepts
• Anarcho-primitivism - Civilization
• Anarcho-primitivism - A Critique of Symbolic Culture
• Anarcho-primitivism - The Domestication of Life
• Anarcho-primitivism - The Origins and Dynamics of Patriarchy
• Anarcho-primitivism - Division of Labor and Specialization
• Anarcho-primitivism - Rejection of Science
• Anarcho-primitivism - The Problem of Technology
• Anarcho-primitivism - Production and Industrialism
• Anarcho-primitivism - Beyond Leftism
• Anarcho-primitivism - Against Mass Society
• Anarcho-primitivism - Liberation and Organization
• Anarcho-primitivism - Revolution vs. Reform
• Anarcho-primitivism - Influences
• Anarcho-primitivism - Rewilding and Reconnection
• Anarcho-primitivism - Associations
• Anarcho-primitivism - Criticism

Read more here: » Anarcho-primitivism: Encyclopedia - Anarcho-primitivism