The essay focuses on the forerunners of the debate on culture: Matthew Arnold and Edward Tylor with the exceptionally multifaceted context of Victorian England. More specifically, the essay sheds light on Arnold's humanistic view of culture as the pursuit of perfection "by means of getting to know [...] the best that has been thought and said in the world", which the scholar sees as an alternative to the impending risk of social chaos and anarchy. On the other hand, Tylor's anthropological view of culture is illustrated against the background of the lively debate of the 1870s. As the essay illustrates, Tylor's basic assumptions bear traces of the scientific environment that stongly affected them, and of the long process that eventually led to the recognition of anthropology as a distinct branch of science.
The humanist and the anthropologist: Victorian notions of culture in Matthew Arnold and Edward Burnett Tylor
Maddalena Alessandra squeo
2020-01-01
Abstract
The essay focuses on the forerunners of the debate on culture: Matthew Arnold and Edward Tylor with the exceptionally multifaceted context of Victorian England. More specifically, the essay sheds light on Arnold's humanistic view of culture as the pursuit of perfection "by means of getting to know [...] the best that has been thought and said in the world", which the scholar sees as an alternative to the impending risk of social chaos and anarchy. On the other hand, Tylor's anthropological view of culture is illustrated against the background of the lively debate of the 1870s. As the essay illustrates, Tylor's basic assumptions bear traces of the scientific environment that stongly affected them, and of the long process that eventually led to the recognition of anthropology as a distinct branch of science.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
