From Anthropological Pluralism to Ontological Pluralism

prof. Philippe Descola, College de France

Pořádá Kabinet pro studium vědy, techniky a společnosti FLÚ AV ČR

Plakát ke stažení ZDE.

The key concept and methodological tool of Lévi-Straussian structural anthropology is the group of transformation. A structure, understood as a system of contrastive oppositions, only acquires an analytical dynamism thanks to its capacity to organize the transformations between the models of a same group of phenomena. For a structure to be differentiated from a mere system, then, invariant relations must be brought to light between the elements and the relations of different sets so that each of these is connected to another by the means of a transformation. However, there are different ways to conceive a structural transformation in anthropology. The lecture will explore some of them, particularly those used by the lecturer in his book Beyond Nature and Culture (2013), and will build on these results to approach the epistemological consequences of apprehending ontological pluralism as a group of transformation.

Profesor Philippe Descola je světově uznávaný amerikanista, působí na College de France v Paříži, kde vede Lévi-Straussem založenou Katedru sociální antropologie. Do Prahy přijíždí na pozvání Francouzského institutu, Národní galerie a Festivalu Fotografie (na kterém vystoupí s přednáškou určenou širšímu publiku: http://fotografestival.cz/2016/event/culturanatura).