Beliefs, Disbeliefs, and Unbeliefs
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2581807 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Benson Saler (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1968 |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 29 |
| Publication date | 1968-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Anthropological Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-5491 • E-ISSN: 1534-1518 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/3316891 |
| OpenAlex | W2314697903 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 1 |
The study of beliefs ranks among the oldest and most absorbing of anthropological involvements. Tylor (1871) listed knowledge and as the first two elements in his frequentlycited definition of culture: . .. that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society. Scores of anthropologists have expended time and effort in the attempt to discover and subsequently describe belief systems. In doing so, many of us have been guided by three important assumptions: First, that it is possible for us to apprehend with substantial accuracy the beliefs of our informants. Second, that belief and behavior are in some sense intimately related. And, third, that one historic goal of anthropological research is the description of group-typical beliefs and grouptypical behaviors. It is to issues attendant on the acceptance of the first assumption that I wish to address myself. Before doing so, however, some very brief remarks relevant to the other two assumptions are in order. While I agree that the discovery of beliefs and behaviors which can be said to be typical for a culturally organized group of persons is an important goal, the actual existence of such beliefs and behaviors ought not to be taken for granted. Rather, this requires demonstration. In a similar vein, any relationship claimed to hold between discrete beliefs and discriminable behaviors will also require appropriate corroboration. A given belief, after all, might prove to be the ground for alternative behaviors; and, with equal plausibility, a given behavioral sequence could conceivably find support among a variety of different beliefs. Nor can we safely assume that a person's non-verbal actions always 'speak louder' than his words. While at times behavior may suggest that expressed beliefs were falsely given, it may happen on occasion that it is a person's non-verbal actions rather than his words which are misleading. All of this could
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,04 |
| Citation span | 1977 - 2015 (39) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |