From the “Outside” and From the “Inside”. Searching for a Design of General Anthropology

Abstract

This article offers one of the possibilities of establishing a design for general anthropology. It works with the categories of “inwardness” (Innerlichkeit) and points to possible solutions of combining the spiritual, semiotic, or psychological “from the inside” with the empirical “from the outside”. Using the example of the discussion on “basic colour terms”, the article considers various levels of the evolution of designating colour (genetic, epigenetic, the level of coevolution of genes and culture, the level of evolution and diffusion of culture, the level of language development). At the same time, it considers the options of how to formulate testable theories that would combine ontogenesis, (cultural) phylogenesis, and cultural-historical developments.

Keywords: general anthropology; inwardness (Innerlichkeit); ontogenesis; (cultural) phylogenesis; cultural history; inheritability; cultural transfer; sensory perception

Jan Horský

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