Some Formal Aspects of a Kinship System

Bibliographic Data

ID2188561
AuthorsAlbert Heinrich, Russell L Anderson
Year1971
Volume12
Issue4/5
Pages541-557
Publication date1971-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCurrent Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0011-3204 • E-ISSN: 1537-5382
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/201239
OpenAlexW1979279476
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited12

It is our opinion that, due to the lack of an adequate analytic framework, much of current kinship study has too much of an either-or character and often is more simplistic than it need be. One of the shortcomings is that we have not yet developed culture-free units, either for the positional units and ascriptions thereto, or for the interactional systems that kinship entails. It is our contention that scientific investigation into any body of phenomena calls for a system of units if the investigation is to proceed very far. The profession, we think, has arrived at a point where many of its members who are engaged in kinship studies recognize the need for the development of a system of units. We present here our version of something of this nature, not so much with the hope of acceptance as with the hope that it will serve some sort of catalyst function for those who are interested in this aspect of anthropology

Character (mathematics · Epistemology · Fictive kinship · Function (biology · Genealogy · Kinship · Sociology · sort · Anthropology · Computer Science · History · Names, Identity, and Discrimination Research · Philosophy

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