Tribal Epistemologies: Essays in the Philosophy of Anthropology (Avebury Series in Philosophy) [Hardcover]

Helmut Wautischer (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 184014128X | ISBN-13: 978-1840141283 | Publication Date: May 1998

This collection of ten essays seeks to transform our understanding of both the role of philosophical anthropology in modern world philosophy and the sagacious origins of tribal knowledge in their relations to contemporary assessments of cognition and consciousness. Ethnographic data from geographically distant cultures - such as the Maori of New Zealand, the Fore of New Guinea, the Cowlitz of North America, the Maya, Australian Aborigines, Siberian Shamans - are carefully crafted toward an empirical basis for discussing a variety of phenomena traditionally labelled in Western thought as transcendent or metaphysical. This anthology is a valuable source of information relevant or any theories of knowledge and a solid challenge for reductionist models of consciousness. The essays aim to enhance our recognition and appreciation of fundamental similarities as well as differences in world views and cultural perspectives related to knowledge claims.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 180 pages
• Publisher: Ashgate Pub Ltd (May 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 184014128X
• ISBN-13: 978-1840141283
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,497,849 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Helmut Wautischer received his PhD in philosophy from the University of Graz, Austria, where he studied with Rudolf Haller and Ernst Topitsch. He has published essays in numerous venues, such as Polylog, Prima Philosophia, Dialogue and Humanism, Anthropology of Consciousness, Shaman, Journal of Ritual Studies, and Journal of Ethical Studies. He presented papers at venues, such as the World Congresses of Philosophy (Moscow 1993, Boston 1998, Istanbul 2003), Toward a Science of Consciousness (Tucson), American Philosophical Association, American Anthropological Association, the Austrian Association for Philosophy, International Conference on the Study of Shamanism and Alternative Modes of Healing, and others. Currently he serves as president of the Karl Jaspers Society of North America (www.karljaspers.us), is co-Editor (with Alan M. Olson) of the online journal Existenz (www.existenz.us), and is Managing Editor of the Paideia Project at Boston University (www.bu.edu/paideia).