THE PERILS OF POSITIVISM IN CULTURAL-ANTHROPOLOGY

'Positivism,' it seems, is a movement that cultural anthropology can do without. But what is positivism, who are these positivists, and what precisely are their sins? Notwithstanding appearances to the contrary, the image of positivism in cultural anthropology is comparatively coherent and the criticism directed at it relatively well founded. What is dubious is the conclusion to which many critics think it leads: that the methods of the natural sciences are inappropriate to the study of human culture and society.