Premium
Looking Backward: An Autocritique
Author(s) -
Alland Alexander
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
medical anthropology quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.855
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1548-1387
pISSN - 0745-5194
DOI - 10.1525/maq.1987.1.4.02a00050
Subject(s) - emic and etic , embodied cognition , perspective (graphical) , strengths and weaknesses , sociology , anthropology , medical anthropology , biological anthropology , ecology , epistemology , environmental ethics , philosophy , biology , artificial intelligence , computer science
A retrospective and critical review of my own work in medical anthropology, I examine here what I now believe are the strengths and weaknesses of an ecological approach to the discipline. Although of major importance, the etic view embodied in the ecological perspective is not sufficient for a full understanding of cultural and biological adaptations to disease. Medical anthropology should remain true to its roots in the mother discipline by continuing to investigate the combined effects of biology and culture on human behavior.