WEEK 4

EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Social anthropology is a science and to know this fact, it is necessary to understand what is science. Some begin to consider a particular subject matter to be science as chemistry or engineering etc. common people distinguish between science and art in this very sense.

Scientific method is a systematic study of a subject matter within a limited scope. This method requires great patience, courage, hard labour, constructive imagination and objectivity. No man can utilize scientific system without a scientific notion, before starting work on a scientific system; a research scholar should minutely define the problem which is the subject of his research. The clearer is the definition the easier shall be the work of research. Main steps of scientific method are given below:
1. Observation: The first step in scientific system is to observe the subject matter of research minutely and carefully. This observation often needs the help of the instruments. These instruments must be exact.
2. Recording: The second step needed in scientific system is to record this observation carefully. An impartial objectivity is very essential in doing it.
3. Classification: Then the classification and organization of the collected material will have to be done. It is a very serious step. In the words of Karl Pearson, “The classification of facts, the recognition of their sequence and relative significance is the function of science”. The classification is done inn such a way that a relation and semblance in the scattered elements may be seen. Thus the subject matter is arranged on logical grounds.
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4. Generalisation: the fourth step in a scientific system is to find a common rule or to generalize on the basis of semblance in the classified matter. This common rule is called a scientific principle. In the words of MacIver “such a law is simply another name for a carefully described and uniformly recurring sequence of conditions”.
5. Verification: A scientific system does not stop after making generalizations. The verification of these generalizations is also necessary. Scientific principles can be verified and such a verification is their necessary condition without which they cannot be called scientific.



Social Anthropology as a science
An examination of social anthropology, on the basis of the aforesaid six rudiments, reveals that social anthropology possesses all the essential elements of a science.
1. Social anthropology makes use of scientific method: All methods of social anthropology are scientific. They make use of scientific techniques like schedule,, participant observation, historical procedure and case history, etc. First of all, they gather facts through observation. Then they are recorded in an orderly form. Afterwards this matter is classified and in the end, common principles are made on the basis of accepted facts. The validity of these principles are examined.
2. Social anthropology is factual: Social anthropology is a comparative study of the facts about social events, relations and reactions. Participant observation is its main method. In this method an anthropologist goes to live among those people whom he has to study. Thus his study is in accordance with facts.
3. The principles of social anthropology are universal: the rules of social anthropology are proved in all countries so long as the circumstances are the same; there is no chance of an exception in them.
4. The principles of social anthropology are veridical: thus the principles of social anthropology always prove true on verification and even on re-verification. Their validity can be verified b anybody and at any time.
5. Social anthropology defines cause effect relations: social anthropology discovers cause-effect relations in social facts, events and relations, etc. for example, an anthropologist, after his comparative study of various cultures tells us about life style to be found in a particular culture and the extent to which the life styles undergo a change with culture changes. Thus, social anthropology answers ‘what’ along with ‘how’.
6. Social anthropology can predict : On the basis of cause-effect relationship, social anthropologist can guess the future and can predict about social reactions and events, etc. he can decide ‘what will be’ on the basis of ‘what is’ after knowing the cause-effect relations.
For example, by observing cultural change, he can predict about a change of life pattern.
It is clear from the aforesaid discussion of the nature of social anthropology that social anthropology is a science. It contains an abstract form of thoughts. Scientific study is possible only through abstract forms. The rules of these abstract forms decide the reactions of concrete things. In this way the rules of social anthropology are universal and veridical in practical shape. Social anthropology has brought revolutionary change in the notions of psychologists, sociologists, politicians and social reformers, has given a hope for organization of human society in future and has presented useful suggestions to decide pattern of its organization
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Aims of social anthropology
The primary aim of social anthropology is to gather information about human nature. Human nature is a controversial subject. Different scholars have laid emphasis upon different aspects of human nature. The primitive man and society present human nature in its most rudimentary and raw form. Therefore their study is useful for the understanding of the basic essentials of human nature without much influence of culture upon them.
Another aim of social anthropology is the study of the processes and results of cultural contacts. Most of the primitive societies are gradually coming in contact of more developed cultures. This contact is gradually creating social, religious, economic and political problems and disorganization. The administrators and the social planners require the help of social anthropologists in the understanding of processes and consequences of cultural contacts. According to the Royal Anthropological Society of Great Britain and Ireland the most important aims of social anthropology are the following:
1. The study of primitive culture in its present form.
2. The study of cultural contact and specific processes.
This includes exploration of the influences of outer groups creating cultural changes.
3. Reconstruction of social history.
4. Search for universally valid social laws.

Thus the chief aim of social anthropology is to study human society, social institutions, culture, and kinship bonds in their most elementary form. Besides being useful for the understanding of present day human societies, it aids to our knowledge of human history as well as the nature of social institutions. It is hence that social anthropology is closely related to history and archeology.
Utility of the study of primitive societies
The primary object of social anthropology is to understand primitive people, the cultures they have created and the social systems in which they live and act.”  Thus social anthropology primarily concentrates on the study of primitive societies.
Ralph Piddington points out the following characteristics of primitive societies:
1. The primary trait of primitive societies is illiteracy and the absence of writing or literature.
2. The primitive societies have social organization based upon small groups such as clans, tribes totems, etc.
3. The technological level of development is very low.
4. The social relationships based upon locality and blood relationships are the most important.
5. There is generally an absence of economic specialization and too much division of labour. Thus the primitive societies are little communities. Robert Redfield has called it, “the folk society”. According to him the absence of systematic art, science and theology is also characteristics of primitive societies.

Appearance of anthropology as a discipline
Man and his surroundings have always been a perennial source of wonder and reflection for himself. This consciousness instigated him in searching the realities. Therefore, it is futile to talk about the beginning of the study of man. For the genesis of systematic thinking we usually refer back to the classical Greek Civilization especially to the writings of Herodotus in fifth century B.C. Not only Herodotus, many other Greek and Roman historians namely Socrates, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Plato, etc. are considered as pioneer social thinkers. They first expressed their significant interest in man’s affairs considering the perspective of Universe. Their approach was purely humanistic and they postulated a social theory from organismic point of view.
The emergence of anthropology as a distinct discipline occurred only recently in nineteenth century. Sydney Slotkin in his book ‘Readings in early Anthropology’ traced the history of many anthropological sub-disciplines form seventeenth and eighteenth century. But he also agreed that the real professional interest of the subject did not appear until nineteenth century. The unusual peoples and their unknown way of life evoked interest of navigators and other explorers. As a result in 1800 a society named as ‘Observers if Man’ was founded in ParisSchool of Distance Education
by the union of naturalists and medical-men. This society promoted the study of natural history by providing guidance to the travelers and explorers of far places. But meanwhile, for the long series of Napoleonic wars, the commerce and the foreign travel were interrupted.
In the conclusion,
Anthropology is therefore considered as the product of scientific developments in western world. The tradition of social philosophies continued till the advent of industrialization in west and it emerged as a distinct discipline in the nineteenth century; Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species (1859) perhaps boosted the zeal of all scientists in different fields. Darwin showed that life had evolved from the unicellular organism and went to the way of complex multicellular organism, through the process of evolution. This idea not only opened the new avenues for zoology, anatomy, physiology, philology, palaeontology, archaeology and geology; it also accelerated the pace of socio-cultural studies. Being influenced by Darwin, a group of intellectual namely Spencer, Morgan, Tylor reached to the conclusion that evolution did not operate only in case of physical aspect of mankind, but also in cultural life. Accordingly, the year 1859 may be taken as the date of birth of anthropology; R.R. Marret (1912) termed anthropology as ‘child of Darwin’

ONE MEMBER ONE SOUL

2019 One Member One Discipled Soul Launched r A colourful ceremony has been held in Accra to launch the 2019 One Member One Discipled Soul (1M1DS) project of The Church of Pentecost, with a clarion call on every member of the church to win at least a soul for Jesus Christ by the end of the year. The launch, which took place at the auditorium of the Kaneshie Central Assembly on Friday, September 20, 2019, was performed by the General Secretary, Apostle Alexander Nana Yaw Kumi-Larbi, on behalf of the Chairman, Apostle Eric Kwabena Nyamekye. Present to assist the General Secretary was the Director of the Evangelism Ministry, Apostle Dr Amos Jimmy Markin, whose ministry is the main implementers of the 1M1DS project. With the launch, the leadership of the church in collaboration with the Evangelism Ministry is giving each member of the church the opportunity to rekindle their love for soul winning. The months of November and December have been set for rigorous soul winning at all levels of the church. In a short address, the General Secretary noted that anytime the church is poised for evangelism, the heavens open, where signs and wonders abound. He averred that evangelism is a way of life and that every true Christian should live it. According to him, it is the core of the work Jesus gave to His followers in Matthew 28. Apostle Kumi-Larbi disclosed that the maiden 1M1DS was launched in 2017, and stated that this year’s launch is meant to reignite the zeal of the members towards personal evangelism in order to snatch many perishing souls from eternal damnation. The General Secretary was hopeful that winning 1,000,000 souls for Christ by the close of the year was achievable if all members of the church got involved and made personal evangelism a priority. The Evangelism Director, Apostle Dr Amos Jimmy Markin, in an exhortation on the topic, “Laity Involvement in Evangelism: The One Member One Discipled Soul” based on Matthew 18:11-14, Mark 16:19-20, stated that, “evangelism, church planting and missions in The Church of Pentecost, is not the preserve of some specialised few. “It has never been so in our church before, but rather the work of the end-time church populace including the clergy and the laity. “The Church of Pentecost’s mission success is partly attributed to the laity’s involvement in evangelism and church planting,” he said, adding, “So it becomes a problem when evangelism in the church becomes a preserve of the clergy rather than the laity. Evangelism is a preserve of everyone.” Apostle Dr Jimmy Markin indicated that the Lord is not asking much from the members, but only one soul which is achievable. Touching on the essence of the 1M1DS, the Evangelism Director mentioned that the launch of the programme marks a period of re-enacting into action across the frontiers of the church. “The aim of this project is basically two: First, as part of the church’s five-year vision of possessing the nations, every member would have the opportunity to make at least one disciple for Christ by the end of the year. Second, every member would be equipped to have evangelism as a lifestyle and also be consumed with the zeal and passion for souls as our forebearers did,” he pointed out. Earlier in a welcome address, the Kaneshie Area Head, Apostle Mike Etrue, said that the church’s vision of possessing the nations where every member is to be equipped with Kingdom values and principles to impact their spheres of influence, places a huge responsibility on the members to consciously plan and work towards fulfilling the Great Commission. To ensure the effective implementation of the 1M1DS project, the Evangelism Ministry commissioned a group of dedicated young men and women called ‘Pentecost Gospel Heralds’ whose job is to primarily spread the gospel of Jesus Christ during organised crusades and rallies embarked upon by the ministry in any part of the country. Some senior ministers of the church present at the ceremony included Apostle David Tettey Tekper (Achimota Area Head and Chairman of Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Committee), Prophet David Kankam Beditor (Ashaiman Area Head and Executive Council Member), Prophet Ebenezer K. Appiah (Dansoman Area Head), Apostle Martin Seth Appiah (Madina Area Head), Apostle Matthew Larbi Wettey (Tema Area Head) and Apostle Dr Ben Ali (Downtown-Ofaakor Area Head). Others were Apostle Emmanuel Ofei Ankra-Badu (PEMEM Director), Apostle Fred Tiakor (Children’s Ministry Director), Pastor Ebenezer Hagan (Youth Ministry Director), and representatives from some para-church organisations such as the Gideons International, Great Commission and the Scripture Union. PENTECOST NEWS. r r Get the app here https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pentiumtech.churchofpentecost

Week 3 assignment

MENSAH MAXWELL
BACS22215
GROUP 1



FOUNDING FATHERS OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS
Anthropology - Anthropology, ‘the science of humanity,’ which studies human beings in aspects ranging from the biology and evolutionary history of Homo sapiens to the features of society and culture that decisively distinguish humans from other animal species.

To start with,

Franz Boaz - Established the academic discipline of anthropology as we know it today. He is also the source of some of anthropology’s oldest truths, like the cultural (rather than biological) nature of race and the very notion of culture as a whole.

Clifford Geertz - one of the most influential modern anthropologists, who helped to develop and promote the notion of symbolic anthropology. Added to Malinowski's ideas of participant observation the idea of “thick description” .

"Believing, with Max Weber, that man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun, I take culture to be those webs, and the analysis of it to be therefore not an experimental science in search of law but an interpretive one in search of meaning."

• Clifford Geertz

Bronislaw Malinowski - Advanced and clarified the processes of participant observation that are the very basic tools used by anthropologists even today. Before Malinowski, most anthropology was done from an armchair in a nice study or library. He popularized the notion that in order to understand a people, you must go to them and live among them.

He, like a lot of older anthropologists, was pretty problematic. Still, his ideas laid the groundwork for the important and relevant studies conducted by later anthropologists in an effort to understand this thing we call humanity.

In conclusion, They contributed to our understanding of human culture in general as well as aboriginal cultures. They also contributed indirectly to the fields of sociology, archeology, history, human evolution, psychology, and many other fields. For instance, in the 1930’s, anthropologist Julian Steward developed a theory that he called cultural ecology. According to this theory, cultural traits are ecological adaptations to the different physical environments of different societies. His theory therefore could be a big help today’s natural preservationists who are concerned with environmental pollution, species extinctions, and global warming.

Thanks a lot big brp