All tagged Cognitive science
Cognitive Anthropology: A Primer, Part II
Cognitive anthropology is the study of the mind in its cultural and cross-cultural context. Once again, we can turn to Edwin Hutchins (1995) and his groundbreaking book in the literature for a greater definition: “Human cognition in its natural habitat, that is – to naturally occurring, culturally constituted human activity.” It is a somewhat overlooked subfield of cognitive science more broadly, and yet it proposes a great many questions that can benefit our understanding of thought, the brain, and culture intermingle to create our experience of reality. Over the years, there have been a number of influential publications that seek to define, situate, and advance this reading of cognition.
Cognitive Anthropology A Primer
Are anthropologists necessary to the great hunt for a unified theory of mind? Will cognitive anthropology decisively confirm whether anthropology as a whole is part of the humanities or the sciences? Are cognitive anthropological methodologies compatible with the research methods of other subfields of cognitive science? These are the big questions, of course, and to address them exhaustively is a near-impossible task for any researcher, and there is indeed conflict among anthropologists, even those who identify specifically as cognitive anthropologists, as to how this field can and should proceed. The goal of this brief article is to act as a primer, an introduction to this colorful and, I will argue throughout this series, necessary pillar of human cognitive studies.