Explaining Human Origins
Explaining Human Origins
Myth, Imagination and Conjecture
No date available
Paperback
9780521657303
Paperback
Wiktor Stoczkowski, a palaeo-anthropologist, argues that the theories of human origins developed by archaeologists and physical anthropologists from the early nineteenth century to the present day are structurally similar to Western folk theories, and to the speculations of earlier philosophers. Reviewing a remarkable range of thinkers writing in a variety of European languages, he makes a convincing argument for this case. Even though the book criticises the lack of development in theories of human origins, its conclusion is optimistic about the power of the scientific approach to deliver more reliable theories - but only if the influences of popular discourse on its thinking are properly identified.
- A new perspective on the study of scientific knowledge
- An anthropological approach to scientific thought
- A critical analysis of the current explanations of human origins
Product details
No date availablePaperback
9780521657303
246 pages
229 × 152 × 14 mm
0.37kg
7 tables
Table of Contents
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Prehistory and the conditioned imagination
- 3. Anthropogenesis and science
- 4. In search of causes
- 5. A double game.
