Re: wait, synthesis is _bad_?!?

Ralph L Holloway (rlh2@COLUMBIA.EDU)
Tue, 30 Apr 1996 16:06:31 -0400

On Tue, 30 Apr 1996, Holly Swyers wrote:

> I've been trying to keep up with the work I'm paid to do and so have not been
> following the debate about the "Great Synthesis" as closely as I want to, but
> Matthew Joanis' (DeusExMachina) most recent comments seem a little odd to me.
> Maybe I am misunderstanding what everyone means by synthesis, but I gather
> it has to do with the notion of the various subdisciplines of anthropology
> _cooperating_ and _collaborating_. Why is this a _bad_ thing?

I think DeusExMachina meant the "Modern Synthesis", particularly as
articulated by Huxley. This refers to the Modern Synthetic Theory of
Evolution, which synthesized genetics, and evolutionary theory. This
explains also, I believe, why I raged a few days ago, because i thought
he had meant a "great synthesis" between physical and cultural
anthropology, which has escaped my experience...
Ralph Holloway