Dados Bibliográficos

AUTOR(ES) George M. Foster
ANO 1976
TIPO Artigo
PERIÓDICO American Anthropologist
ISSN 0002-7294
E-ISSN 0002-7294
EDITORA Wiley (United States)
DOI 10.1525/aa.1976.78.4.02a00030
CITAÇÕES 73
ADICIONADO EM 2025-08-18
MD5 49acb7631c9ffe7da544fad0a396da51

Resumo

This paper argues that disease etiology is the key to cross‐cultural comparison of non‐Western medical systems. Two principal etiologies are identified: personalistic and naturalistic. Correlated with personalistic etiologies are the belief that all misfortune, disease included, is explained in the same way; illness, religion, and magic are inseparable; the most powerful curers have supernatural and magical powers, and their primary role is diagnostic. Correlated with naturalistic etiologies are the belief that disease causality has nothing to do with other misfortunes; religion and magic are largely unrelated to illness; the principal curers lack supernatural or magical powers, and their primary role is therapeutic. [disease, religion, and magic; ethnomedicine, medical anthropology, non‐Western medical systems, shamans]

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