Behavioral and Brain Sciences

Table of Contents - 2010 - Volume 33, Issue 05  

Open Peer Commentary

The cognitive path through kinship

Fadwa El Guindia1

a1 Qatar University, Doha, Qatar. Fadwa.elguindi@qu.edu.qa www.elnil.org

Abstract

Integral to the discipline of anthropology are both science and holism. The application of Optimality Theory to two partial kin terminologies narrows analysis to descriptive value, fragments phenomena, and constrains data selection, which precludes significant knowledge. Embedded in this critique is a call to move analysis from fragment to whole and from descriptive features to deeper levels of knowledge underlying kin terms, thereby leading to a cognitive path for holistic understanding of human phenomena.

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