Spring 2013 Philosophy of Culture Course Study Questions

Return to Philosophy of Culture

All exams are based on these study questions. You are strongly encouraged to keep notes on these study questions as the semester proceeds. This will make you preparation for the mid-term and final much more efficient and productive.

January 07

1st day of Class. No study questions.

January 08

1. Why does Wilson think it is useful to study human culture in relationship to ants, bees, termites, and wasps?

2. What are some advantages and disadvantages of having an exoskeleton?

3. What are some distinctive aspects of human eusociality?

4. What is ethnography, how do you do it, and is it science?

January 10

1. According to Brian Eno, what is the importance of metaphor in understanding culture?

2. Why is the fact that cultural activity is evolutionarily "expensive" a puzzle in trying to explain it?

3. What is a "preadaptation" and what are some of the major preadaptations Wilson postulates for earlier humans and pre-humans?

January 14

1. Identify both traditional views about emergence of hominids, as well as Wilson's speculations.

2. Why are nests and relatively stable campsites important to the development of hominids, according to Wilson?

3. Give an example of male bias in anthropology.

4. How is globalism altering anthropology? (Consider local examples in Italian culture.)

5. How might the HRAF be used to validate hypotheses in ethnography?

January 15

1. What is Yali's question and does Diamond think previous answers have been wrong?

2. What happened at Cajamarca on November 16, 1532? Be prepared to answer basic explanatory questions about this event.

January 17

1. How do the major "pre-adaptations" leading to homo sapiens (and culture) reduce the improbability of the emergence of human culture?

2. What is kin selection? What is group selection? How does Wilson think we determine whether to commit to group altruism or individualism in the pursuit of our survival (and thriving)?

January 21

1. How were anthropologists of the early 20th century responding to 19th century ideas?

2. How did anthropologists of the early 20th century think of their discipline in relation to science?

3. Give examples of "revisionism" of the work of even famous anthropologists? How should we explain this?

4. Has Freudianism been helpful in anthropology, in your opinion?

5. What evidence do we have about the depth of tribalism in human culture?

6. Are humans (and their ancestors) violent and warlike by nature?

January 22

1. How is male and female body size related to reproductive and child rearing conditions?

2. What does relative testes size tell you about a mammal's mating practices?

3. What are the major theories about concealed ovulation and copulation?

4. Review some of the course research questions that bear on our study to date. (Not an exam question.)

January 24

1. How does Durkheim think solidarity is established in society? Give some examples.

2. How does Levi-Straus use the concept of "binary opposition" and "mental construct" to explain how social meaning is created?

3. How do French anthropologists like Durkheim and Levi-Straus think about the nature of culture and the task of culture?

5. What innovations are associated with the neolithic period?

January 28

1. How does Dennett develop the relationship between a scientific study of culture and an acknowledgement that culture is "sui generus"?

2. Why is it, according to Dennett, that cultural selection need not be conscious?

3. What are "memes" and how might meme theory account for cultural ideas?

January 29

1. According to Diamond, how do cultures make disastrous mistakes?

2. Give some examples of contemporary problems facing either European or American cultures and consider how Diamond's typology might apply.

January 31

1. What evidence from paleopathology has led us to reappraise the "blessings" of agriculture, according to Diamond?

2. How should we assess the value of agriculture in human culture today?

February 04

1. What is Freud's attitude toward religion.

2. How does Freud think about the problem of happiness and the compatibility of human happiness and nature?

February 05

1. How does Weber theorize a central role for religion in meeting cultural challenges posed by inequality?

2. Does language affect the way we think? Sapir-Whorf

3. How does Harris' anthropolgy combine the etic/emic/behavioral/&mental with Marxism?

4. What is Wilson's original "sociobiology" theory and how has it changed in his recent work?

February 07

1. How does civilization regulate and sublimate our sexual and aggressive tendencies, according to Freud?

February 11

1. How does civilization make use of the Oedipal complex and the super ego to regulate aggression and other socially required behaviors?

2. How does Freud theorize collective consciousness of guilt in a culture?

February 12

1. How does interpretive anthropology emerge from problems already existing in anthropology?

2. What is "thick description" (add to this especially after next class)

3. What is Diamond's theory about dangerous substances use? Evaluate it.

February 14

1. What is the point of the story about Cohen and the sheep in Geertz's essay, "Thick Description"?

2. What is "thick description" according to Geertz.

3. How does Geertz's idea of ethnography contrast with Durkheim, Boas, or Wilson?

February 18

1. What is the Palio di Siena, how is it organized, and how is it connected to other features of celebration and festival?

2. How does Crocini approach her ethnography of the Palio? Theoretical resources, theses, and comparison to previous studies, etc.

February 25

1. How do postmoderns think about meaning?

2. How would a postmodern anthropologist think about the task of ethnography?

3. In what ways does Crocini (in her methodology) show the influence of a postmodern ethnography?

February 26

1. What obstacles (challenges) has Italy faced in the process of unification? In what sense was unification still an ambition as the fascist era begins? In what sense is it still today, following the 2013 elections? (Use whole article to address this.)

2. What was the relationship between the Catholic church and Italian politics in the period from 1860-1915? How did this change in the fascist and post-WWI era?

3. What were some of the main strategies of Italian political culture to manage the challenges of achieving national identity and progress? (consider entire article)

February 28

1. In what ways did fascism succeed and fail to create national political and cultural unity?

2. Why does Bull think Italian culture was "schizophrenic" in the early post-war period?

3. How did the "Mani Pulite" investigations, the rise of Forza Italia, and forces like globalization affect prospects for Italian unity?

March 04

1. What features of Crocini's phenomenological account help explain the effectiveness of the Palio as a cultural activity promoting identity?

2. Compare the Palio's quasi-governmental structure to the larger political history of Siena. How can it be seen as a response or parallel system?

3. How does the Palio track Deleuze's concepts of war machine/state machine and "becoming animal"?

March 05

1. What is gene-culture co-evolution and how does Wilson think it involves epi-genetics?

2. How does lactose tolerance suggest that culture can exert a selection pressure on gene expression?

3. Give examples of cultural universals that seems to support the idea that some widely held cultural practices have a long-standing genetic or epi-genetic basis.

March 07

1. Give examples of culture in both human and non-human animals.

2. What is cognitive archaeology and how might it help explain some of our difference with Neanderthals?

3. In addition to sheer memory, what might have been different about human intelligence that helps explain the growth of human culture?

March 18

1. Characterize the treatment of and role of intellectuals in Italian political culture and political action.

2. How does Ward explain the failure of intellectuals as a political force in early 20th century.

3. How does Wilson use the work of Michael Tomasello to explain the development language ability in humans?

March 19

1. What is Gramsci's critique of intellectuals in Italy of the 1930s?

2. Give examples of some of the processes that may govern cultural evolution or gene/epigene-culture evolution?