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A 5 page research paper that analyzes Donald E. Brown's text Human Universals and then relates his theories to the topic of nationalism and ethnicity. The writer briefly touches on several theoretical perspectives, and how they relate to Brown's perspective. Bibliography lists 8 sources.
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5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khhumuni.rtf
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between individuals and groups that result in formation of culture and societies. Many anthropologists look solely to culture as the primary forces shaping societal structures, which typically results in an
emphasis on cultural differences. Others, such as Donald E. Brown, take the radical approach of focusing on the factors that all human beings have in common -- the human "universals"
that provide a common foundation for all humanity. Browns text Human Universals (1991) offers an intriguing counterbalance to those voices in the social sciences that emphasize the
differences between cultures. Granted that those who emphasize differences do so in order to urge tolerance of cultural diversity, but Browns approach, which focuses on factors common to all people,
actually promotes ties that are likely to foster tolerance. He accomplishes this by offering a comprehensive survey of the anthropological study of human universals, i.e. human nature, culture vs.
biology, and so forth. Human beings all smile, mourn the loss of family members, eat, experience hunger, learn which foods are acceptable and connect eating with social occasions, plus much
more (Brown, 1991). Brown (1991) tells us that if a single source for human universals had to be named that source would be human nature. However, he also points
out that this is two-way street. He writes, "...by the same token that we may seek the explanation for universals in human nature, we may use universals...as guides in the
search for human nature" (1991, p. 142). Brown categorically opposes the anthropological position that culture is a level of phenomena that is free of causation from lower levels. In
previous decades, anthropologists separated culture from nature, positioning "learned" behavior as opposition to animal "instincts." Brown (1991) feels that this position pushed culture to the forefront of study, obscuring the
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