The discussion centers on the perception of anthropology as a serious science, particularly focusing on its racial and physical aspects. Participants explore various branches of anthropology, including forensic anthropology, and engage with historical perspectives on racial classification.
Participants exhibit disagreement regarding the seriousness of certain aspects of anthropology, particularly its racial classifications. While some defend the field as a legitimate science, others challenge specific historical perspectives and their implications.
Participants reference historical figures and theories that have been criticized over time, indicating a complex relationship between anthropology and societal views on race. The discussion reflects ongoing debates about the validity and implications of certain anthropological approaches.
the branch of physical anthropology in which anthropological data, criteria, and techniques are used to determine the sex, age, genetic population, or parentage of skeletal or biological materials in questions of civil or criminal law.
Tukhara said:What I am referring to is the racial/physical side of things; do you see it as serious scientific business?
Tukhara said:^It means things like phenotype classification. Such as the act of racial classification types; for instance racial types in listed in Carlton Coon's books.
We're not going there, that's starting from 1939. It's racist and we don't do racist here.Tukhara said:^It means things like phenotype classification. Such as the act of racial classification types; for instance racial types in listed in Carlton Coon's books.
Coon's published magnum opus, The Origin of Races (1962), received mixed reactions from scientists of the era.
Negative[edit]
Sherwood Washburn and Ashley Montagu were heavily influenced by the modern synthesis in biology and population genetics. In addition, they were influenced by Franz Boas, who had moved away from typological racial thinking. Rather than supporting Coon's theories, they and other contemporary researchers viewed the human species as a continuous serial progression of populations and heavily criticised Coon's Origin of Races.
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and changing social attitudes challenged racial theories like Coon's that had been used by segregationists to justify discrimination and depriving people of civil rights.