Breaking the Frames

CHAPTER 5

Nature Versus Culture: A Mistaken

Conundrum

AbstractWhat constitutes humanity? Is it nature or culture? Culturalists
like David Schneider or Marshall Sahlins stress culture, whereas biologi-
cally inclined theorists stress nature. The distinction is itself based in
older, religious dichotomies between body and spirit. Claude Levi-
Strauss used it in his theory of the evolution of marriage practices, and
itfigures into arguments about biological or cultural features of kinship
ties. However, kinship is an intrinsic amalgamation of nature and culture,
and it is important to see it as a fusion of these two, thus breaking the
frame of dichotomous thinking. Since the body/mind distinction under-
lies the kinship debates, it is useful to note that the concept of mental
versus physical health dichotomizes life processes that must be recog-
nized as embodied and holistic.

KeywordsBiology
Body/mind
Claude Lévi-Strauss
Fusion

Humanity
Kinship

This opposition between nature and culture is at the root of discussion of
what it means to be human. Does nature make us human or does culture
do this? Anthropologists who espouse the culturalist approach in anthro-
pology, such as the two notablefigures of David Schneider and Marshall
Sahlins, would answer unequivocally that culture is what constitutes
humanity. Anthropologists who by contrast are attracted by biologically

© The Author(s) 2017
P.J. Stewart, A.J. Strathern,Breaking the Frames,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-47127-3_5

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