SMALL PLACES, LARGE ISSUES. 
An introduction to social and cultural anthropology. 


1. What is the common "common concern" that all anthropologists share?

Every anthropologists have their own way of thinking or viewing anthropology. Although they have mid-ranging and are engaged in highly specialised interest, what they all share in common is trying to understand both connections within societies and connections between societies. The anthropologists wish to discover general, shared aspects of humanity or human societies. 


2.What do you think Eriksen means when he says: "As an ethical principle, however, it is impossible in practice, since it seems to indicate that everything is as good as everything else, provided it makes sense in a particular society. It may particularly lead to nihilism" page-7

Here, what Thomas Hylland Eriksen is actually trying to relate from the above statement is that cultural relativism cannot be practiced in a society or among cultures from an ethical point of view. Because what we consider right in our society may seem unapproachable in other societies. And at the end this might lead to nihilism. (life is without any objective meaning, purpose or intrinsic value.)


3. Paragraph response: 
Erikson says anthropologists, "warn against the application of a shared, universal scale used to be in in evaluation of every society."page-6 Why is this the case? To what extend do you agree or disagree with the approach? Why ? 

The above statement come under the problem of ethnocentrism, which is just the opposite of cultural relativism. We should not judge people under the basis of culture. We should learn how to appreciate it and try to put cultural relativism in action instead of ethnocentrism. I think I agree with the sentence because we should not compare strangers with our societies and put ourselves on top. Instead of doing that, we should call for an understanding of different societies as they appear from the inside. He also mentions that the above statement can be read as an warning against ethnocentrism.