Bachelors

Culture is a concept that is central to nearly all work done in modern day anthropology. However, it is important to recognize that even today the concept of culture may be a little difficult to grasp. There are various definitions, and many anthropologists disagree on which aspects of society should be considered elements of culture. Regardless of these discrepancies, most anthropologists agreethat each group, or each society, embodies a separate set of practices that make up a distinct culture. Yet, the idea of individual cultures has not always been common knowledge. In the early days of anthropology, many believed that there was an overarching culture. Anthropologists suggested that each society was a part of this larger culture, and each individual society just exemplified differentdegrees of progress. Hence, the idea of unilineal evolution of culture was a defining element of most conceptions of culture until the early twentieth century. However, in the early twentieth century, the father of American Anthropology, Franz Boas, began to question and criticize this widely accepted idea. By analyzing the concept of culture according to early anthropologist Lewis Henry Morgan,and comparing his ideas to those of Franz Boas, it is clear that the development of the modern day concept of culture marks a turning point in anthropology. Boas was a significant player in this shift, but the importance of the work of Morgan cannot be overlooked. By relating the ideas of these two monumental figures, it is clear that the field of anthropology has made a great deal of progressover the last century.
For early anthropology the comparative method was significant in helping to define the concept of culture. The comparative method proposes that contemporary primitive societies are like living fossils, and that we can learn the history of mankind as a whole by examining these societies (Morgan, 53). In application, the comparative method asserts that different stages ofhuman development classify types of civilizations. Morgan believed that certain inventions or discoveries act as a test of progress to characterize these different types of society.
The comparative method also implies that cultures are developed forms that evolved from a common culture. Morgan proposed that this is why we see similarities in cultures that are geographically isolated (Morgan, 47).Many early anthropologists used different measures of progress within the comparative method, and for Morgan technological development and innovation was the best determinant of progress for cultural evolution. In his work Ethnical Periods, Morgan clearly identifies and describes what he considers to be distinct periods of progress defined by different discoveries or inventions (Moore, 23). Forexample, the lowest classification of civilization, lower status of savagery, is classified by simple means of subsistence such as fishing, hunting and gathering, and the use of fire. In this type of society there is generally no organization of tribes. The most developed type of civilization, known as status of civilization, is marked by the use of a phonetic alphabet, and the production ofliterary records. There are many other stages in between these types, which are defined by other elements of human development. (Morgan, 48-49). This system of qualification was essential to the definition of culture for Morgan because each of the periods was found to cover a “distinct culture, and to represent a particular mode of life,” (Morgan, 47). This was because the comparative method thought thatall cultures change and progress in a uniform trajectory across time. Essentially, each “distinct culture” was just in a different stage of relative progress compared to other cultures. This narrow perspective on the evolution of culture had a negative effect on the work of many because it perpetuated a fairly close-minded way of analyzing cultures. It also had a negative impact on the notion...