phenomenological anthropology

8/13/2019 Phenomenological Anthropology

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PHENOMENOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Phenomenological anthropology refers to a ay of !oing

ethnography an! ethnology hich emphasi"es the st#!y of

conscio#sness$ The term %phenomenology% nee!s some

clarification &eca#se it is &antere! a&o#t a goo! !eal these

!ays an! is fre'#ently #se! in the most general ay to mean any

sort of e(perientially)&ase! metho!ology$ E*en ithin the

estern philosophical tra!ition the or! la&els a *ery &roa!

mo*ement an! not a precise school or #nitary metho!$ +pea,ing

generally- a phenomenological st#!y is one that is gro#n!e! in

the !irect e(perience of aspects of ones on conscio#sness$

.#t in the more strict philosophical sense- phenomenology

refers to any metho! for the st#!y of conscio#sness that /01

gro#n!s ,nole!ge a&o#t conscio#sness in int#ition as the prime

so#rce of insight an! as the final ar&iter of tr#th a&o#t

conscio#sness- an! /21 recogni"es the possi&ility of- an! see,s

,nole!ge a&o#t the essential str#ct#res of conscio#sness

/+piegel&erg- 03425 6)71$ Most phenomenologists to!ay o#l!

trac, at least some of their i!eas an! metho!s to the or,s of

the greatest of all phenomenologists- E!m#n! H#sserl /0463)

03841- ho rote s#ch &oo,s as Cartesian Me!itations- I!eas5

General Intro!#ction to P#re Phenomenology an! The Crisis of

E#ropean +ciences an! Transcen!ental Phenomenology$ In these

or,s- H#sserl espo#se! a metho! for e(ploring an! int#iti*ely

reali"ing the #ni*ersal str#ct#res of e(perience that re'#ire!


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!ropping ones c#lt#rally con!itione! *ies of self an!

conscio#sness /see +piegel&erg- 03425 73)0761$

Phenomenological Anthropology

In ,eeping ith H#sserl9s pro:ect- phenomenological

anthropology is concerne! ith metho!s that may &e #tili"e! in

fiel!or, to %get into the nati*e9s hea!% an! #n!erstan! hat

the nati*e is e(periencing$ In a!!ition- phenomenological

anthropology recogni"es the fact that other non)E#roamerican

c#lt#res ha*e pro!#ce! their on phenomenologies an! techni'#es$

;or e(ample- the .#!!hist +atipatthana /%;o#n!ations of

Min!f#lness%1 practice may &e consi!ere! a phenomenology #n!er

the a&o*e !efinition$ .oth estern phenomenology an! .#!!hist

me!itation systems a!*ocate !irect int#ition as the &est access

to ,nole!ge a&o#t conscio#sness- an! &oth recogni"e the

e(istence of str#ct#res that are interprete! as essential to

conscio#sness an! #ni*ersal to h#manity$

Hermene#tical Phenomenology

One of the most infl#ential phenomenologies for

ethnographic fiel!or, is that of Pa#l Ricoe#r /see Rasm#ssen-

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e(periences of li*ing people ho are infl#ence! &y the te(t$ In

other or!s- tr#e hermene#tics in*ol*es a !ialog#e &eteen a

te(t /e$g$- myth- !rama- fairy story- !ream report- oral

history- etc$1 an! the e(periences e*o,e! in people

participating in the te(t$ The meaning of the te(t is !e*elope!

ithin the conscio#sness of li*ing people- so that there is a

mo*ement from an initial hearing of the te(t hich then may lea!

to e(periences that ill#minate the meaning of the te(t$ Then

later people may reflect concept#ally #pon &oth the te(t an! the

memory of e(periences relate! to the te(t$

.y implication- the ethnographer m#st approach religio#s

te(ts from an e(periential stan! point$ Ethnographers cannot

merely apply form#laic- %e(egetical% metho!s to a myth- or other

te(t- an! hope to #n!erstan! it in the same rich ay the nati*e

!oes$ Rather- the analysis m#st relate to !irect h#man

e(perience in or!er to reconstr#ct the real meaning of te(ts as

they e(ist an! operate in their nati*e c#lt#ral conte(ts$

Transpersonal Phenomenology

A n#m&er of anthropologists ha*e &eg#n to reali"e that the

e(periences associate! ith some religio#s te(ts an! rit#al

practices are of an e(ceptional nat#re an! not easily &e

accesse! &y ro#tine ethnographic fiel! metho!s /see La#ghlin-

03441$ %Transpersonalism% is a mo*ement in science toar! the

recognition of e(traor!inary e(periences as legitimate an!

#sef#l !ata$ =hat ma,es these e(periences e(traor!inary is that

they in some sense go &eyon! the &o#n!aries of or!inary ego)

conscio#sness$ Transpersonal e(periences incl#!e s#ch phenomena


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as o#t of &o!y e(periences- *isions- possession states- near

!eath e(periences- an! me!itati*e- ecstatic- #niti*e- an!

mystical e(periences$

To gi*e one e(ample of the application of transpersonal

phenomenology to ethnographic fiel!or,- Carol Le!erman

/034454>6)4>71 has reporte! that !#ring her fiel!or, among

Malay healers- Le!erman ran across the concept of angin /%Inner

=in!s%1- a nati*e concept hich la&els an e(perience that

sometimes occ#rs !#ring healing rit#als$ +he mentions that her

informants !ecline! to !efine the concept for her- insisting

instea! that she o#l! ha*e to e(perience angin herself in or!er

to ,no hat it means$ =hen she finally #n!ertoo, the healing

rit#al herself- she e(perience! the angin %li,e a h#rricane%

insi!e her chest$ Thereafter- Le!erman as a&le to e*al#ate the

meaning of the %in!% metaphor from !irect e(perience$ Angin

cease! to &e merely a &elief an! as appreciate! as a

metaphorical !escription of a real an! profo#n! e(perience$

=illiam ?ames9 Ra!ical Empiricism

As anthropologists &ecome more intereste! in the f#ll range

of h#man e(perience- the rele*ance of the or,s of =illiam ?ames

&ecome increasingly important$ ?ames- a famo#s 03th cent#ry

psychologist- is &est ,non for his *ies on pragmatism$ .#t

?ames also !e*elope! a *ery &roa! approach to the st#!y of

e(periential reality- an approach ?ames /03


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nor e(cl#!e from them any element that is !irectly

e(perience!$ ;or s#ch a philosophy- the relations that

connect e(periences m#st themsel*es &e e(perience!

relations- an! any ,in! of relation e(perience! m#st &e

acco#nte! as %real% as anything else in the system$

?ames as in effect riting a manifesto for phenomenological an!

transpersonal anthropologists- for there is no scientific

!iscipline &etter positione! to ascertain the f#ll range of

h#man e(periences enco#ntere! among the orl!9s c#lt#res$

+ocial Phenomenology

The social phenomenology of Alfre! +ch#t" sho#l! also &e

mentione!- for it has ha! in increasing infl#ence #pon

anthropological thin,ing a&o#t the social !imensions of

e(perience /see .erger an! L#c,mann- 03771$ +ch#t" a!*ocate!

the st#!y of society from a special stance that he calle! the

%phenomenology of inters#&:ecti*ity$% The o&:ect of scr#tiny is

ones relationship to another person- rather than some non)h#man

o&:ect in the orl!$ The other person /,non as the capital)O

%Other%1 is a *ery special o&:ect- an! re'#ires its on !istinct

approach in or!er to int#it the essential '#alities of the

social relationship$

In or!er to phenomenologically st#!y this inters#&:ecti*e

relationship ith the Other- I m#st first s#spen! my #ncritical

&elief in the %ta,en)for)grante!% aspects of the c#lt#rally

con!itione!- social e(perience$ This nat#ral social attit#!e

!epen!s #pon my face)to)face enco#nter ith the Other in !irect

e(perience$ This face)to)face enco#nter re'#ires that the Other


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&e in the same space an! time as I am )) that o#r respecti*e

streams of conscio#sness &e floing in synchrony$ It also

re'#ires my recognition of the Other as the same as me in all

essential respects- incl#!ing the Other &eing conscio#s an!

sym&olically e(pressing that conscio#sness to me$ These

'#alities are a#tomatically present in any act#al social

e(perience$

Ne#rophenomenology

As e arg#e! in o#r &oo,- .rain- +ym&ol an! E(perience

/La#ghlin- McMan#s an! !9A'#ili- 033>1- the &est an! most !irect

ro#te to #nco*ering the essential str#ct#res of conscio#sness

a*aila&le to #s to!ay is to steep o#rsel*es in the cross)

c#lt#ral e*i!ence pertaining to h#man e(perience- an! then

e(plore the #ni*ersal str#ct#res of e(perience *ia an

amalgamation of phenomenology an! the ne#rosciencesB that is-

*ia the application of a ne#rophenomenology$ More specifically-

anthropology gi*es #s a sense of the f#ll range of h#man

e(periences- hile at the same time it s#ggests some of the

#ni*ersal similarities in those e(periences$ Phenomenological

anthropology pro*i!es a ,in! of cross)c#lt#ral la&oratory for

e(ploring these #ni*ersal str#ct#res- as it ere- from the

insi!e$ An! the ne#rosciences allos #s an in!epen!ent so#rce

of o&ser*ations a&o#t the str#ct#res of e(perience &y loo,ing

!irectly at the architect#re of the organ of e(perience- the

h#man &rain$

Concl#sions

Phenomenology has a history in philosophy !ating &ac, at


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least to the %phenomenology of min!% of Georg Hegel /0th cent#ry$ .#t the infl#ence of phenomenology on

anthropology has &een felt only '#ite recently$ =hether it

applies to reco*ering the meaning of te(ts- ascertaining the

effects of rit#al practices in pro!#cing altere! states of

conscio#sness- !isco*ering the #ni*ersal str#ct#res #n!erlying

social interactions- or #nco*ering the #ni*ersal

ne#ropsychological str#ct#res pro!#cing e(perience- the impact

of phenomenology on anthropology is as telling as it is

increasing$ Pro&a&ly the most important reason for the c#rrent

attracti*eness of phenomenology is that the iss#e of

conscio#sness- long e(cl#!e! from m#ch of scientific !isco#rse-

has &een re)intro!#ce! into the !omains of ethnographic

fiel!or, an! ethnological theory$ =e may fairly e(pect in the

f#t#re for the role of phenomenological metho!s to !e*elop to

the e(tent that anthropology &ecomes more foc#se! #pon meaning

an! e(perience in any transpersonal or social enco#nter$

Charles D$ La#ghlin- Ph$D$

Professor of Anthropology

Carleton ni*ersity- Ottaa- Cana!a

=or! Co#nt F 06>>


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.i&liography

.erger- Peter L$ an! Thomas L#c,mann- The +ocial Constr#ction of

Reality$ Gar!en City- NY5 Do#&le!ay- 0377$

Ih!e- Don- Hermene#tical Phenomenology5 The Philosophy of Pa#l

Ricoe#r$ E*anston- IL5 Northestern ni*ersity Press- 03


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Intro!#ction /8r! e!iton1$ The Hag#e5 Martin#s Ni:hoff-

0342$

Taylor- E#gene- %Ra!ical Empiricism an! the Con!#ct of Research$%

In =illis Harman- e!$- The Metaphysical ;o#n!ations of Mo!ern+cience5 A Reassessment$ +a#salito- CA5 Instit#te of Noetic

+ciences- 033

phenomenological anthropology

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