Science, Folklore and Ideology


Book Description

This text takes a set of central topics from ancient Greek medicine and biology - relating especially to beliefs about animals, women and drugs - and studies first the interaction between scientific theorising and folklore, and second the ideological character of ancient scientific inquiry. Within this framework the author looks at the development of zoological taxonomy, the repercussions of prevailing Greek assumptions concerning the inferiority of the female sex on medical practice, pharmacology and anatomy. Anthropology is used to provide a comparative dimension to the discussion of ancent Greek popular beliefs.







Aryan Idols


Book Description

Critically examining the discourse of Indo-European scholarship over the past two hundred years, Aryan Idols demonstrates how the interconnected concepts of “Indo-European” and “Aryan” as ethnic categories have been shaped by, and used for, various ideologies. Stefan Arvidsson traces the evolution of the Aryan idea through the nineteenth century—from its roots in Bible-based classifications and William Jones’s discovery of commonalities among Sanskrit, Latin, and Greek to its use by scholars in fields such as archaeology, anthropology, folklore, comparative religion, and history. Along the way, Arvidsson maps out the changing ways in which Aryans were imagined and relates such shifts to social, historical, and political processes. Considering the developments of the twentieth century, Arvidsson focuses on the adoption of Indo-European scholarship (or pseudoscholarship) by the Nazis and by Fascist Catholics. A wide-ranging discussion of the intellectual history of the past two centuries, Aryan Idols links the pervasive idea of the Indo-European people to major scientific, philosophical, and political developments of the times, while raising important questions about the nature of scholarship as well.




Ours Once More


Book Description

When this work – one that contributes to both the history and anthropology fields – first appeared in 1982, it was hailed as a landmark study of the role of folklore in nation-building. It has since been highly influential in reshaping the analysis of Greek and European cultural dynamics. In this expanded edition, a new introduction by the author and an epilogue by Sharon Macdonald document its importance for the emergence of serious anthropological interest in European culture and society and for current debates about Greece’s often contested place in the complex politics of the European Union.




Science, Folklore and Ideology


Book Description

Lloyd examines a set of topics central to ancient Greek medicine and biology, in particular theories of beliefs about animals, women, and the efficacy of drugs. He is concerned throughout with the interaction between scientific theory on the one hand and popular or folkloric belief on the other, as well as with the ideological character of ancient scientific inquiry and its limitations. Lloyd discusses the development of zoological taxonomy, the impact that Greek assumptions about the inferiority of the female sex had on medical practice, and the relationship between high and low science in pharmacology and anatomy. Anthropology provides a comparative dimension raising broader issues under debate in the philosophy and sociology of science.




The Nazification of an Academic Discipline


Book Description

Contributors examine the establishment of folklore departments at German and Austrian universities during the National Socialist era; the perversion of the discipline for political ends by the government; and the attempt to establish a pan-German Reich Institute as an instrument of a fascist ideology.




Folklore in the Modern World


Book Description

Papers presented at the 9th International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, Chicago, 1973.




Social Myths and Collective Imaginaries


Book Description

In Social Myths and Collective Imaginaries, G?rard Bouchard conceptualizes myths as vessels of sacred values that transcend the division between primitive and modern. These vessels become so influential as to make an indelible impression on people's minds.




Adversaries and Authorities


Book Description

This is a wide-ranging exploration of the similarities and differences between ancient Greek and ancient Chinese science and philosophy, concentrating on the period down to AD 300. Professor Lloyd studies such questions as the attitudes towards authority, the practice of confrontational debate, the role of methodological inquiries, the development of techniques of persuasion, the assumptions made about causal explanation and the focus of interest in the study of the heavens and in that of the human body. In each case the Greek and Chinese ways of posing the problems are carefully distinguished to avoid applying either Greek categories to Chinese thought or vice versa. Professor Lloyd shows that the science produced in each ancient civilisation differs in important respects and relates those differences to the values and social institutions in question.




Reader's Guide to the History of Science


Book Description

The Reader's Guide to the History of Science looks at the literature of science in some 550 entries on individuals (Einstein), institutions and disciplines (Mathematics), general themes (Romantic Science) and central concepts (Paradigm and Fact). The history of science is construed widely to include the history of medicine and technology as is reflected in the range of disciplines from which the international team of 200 contributors are drawn.




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