Anthropology is the study of human beings, with an emphasis on their evolution. The academic discipline is generally divided into two broad fields: physical anthropology, which is the study of human physical traits and evolution; and cultural anthropology, which involves the examination of human culture, society, and interpersonal relationships. Physical anthropology, especially the early debate over evolution, influenced the development of 19th-century sociology and political theory. Meanwhile, cultural anthropology has had a major impact on the development of political thought, both in terms of the development of civilizations, as well as the role and impact of societal relationships. A subset of cultural anthropology, philosophical anthropology, examines humans as both products of their environments and as the creators of the values that shape environments.

Contacts between the Europeans and various indigenous peoples in the 1600s and 1700s spurred the eventual development of anthropology. European intellectuals sought to develop explanations for the technological differences between themselves and native peoples, whom they deemed as "savages." Initially, anthropology was dominated by a linear concept of history that held that human societies passed through stages of development. They evolved from a primitive state through phases to become "civilized." The work of Charles Darwin on evolution influenced this line of thought and led to the development of Social Darwinism, which contended that those societies that were more technologically advanced were so because they were more evolved or more fit. Such ideas were used to justify the acquisition of territories and colonies during the age of imperialism in the 19^th century. Social Darwinists also asserted that the developed world, including the Western European nations and the United States, had a duty to take care of the lesser-developed peoples by governing for them and civilizing them through Christianity and political education. This sentiment was especially strong among nations such as Great Britain, France, and Germany. In the United States, these theories would be used to justify the western continental expansion known as Manifest Destiny and the U.S. conquests of territory such as the Philippines.

By the 20th century, many questioned these assumptions, and the strong ethnocentric and cultural biases of the earlier anthropologists were abandoned for a more pluralistic approach that viewed each culture as the product of unique environmental and societal factors. This relativism eliminated many of the earlier prejudices and led to an emphasis on fieldwork and the collection of empirical data. Much of the new methodology of the science was related to the work of Marx and his materialist view of scientific inquiry, which stressed empirical observation. The functionalism of the new approach was rooted in the efforts to find common cultural foundations for a variety of activities within a given society.

One 20th-century political phenomenon studied by anthropologists has been the rise of the "cult of personality" in certain nations. The effort to raise political leaders to an almost deitylike status has occurred in a variety of nations and cultures, including Germany, the Soviet Union, China, and various states in the Middle East. Anthropology provides one manner of examining the fusion of political, religious, and societal ideals in a political leader and the means by which dictatorial rulers are able to use culture to augment or ensure their power.

Free term papers are not written to satisfy your specific instructions. You can use our professional writing services to buy a custom written research paper, term paper, or essay on Sociology at affordable price. CustomTermPapers is the best solution for those who seek help in writing term papers, essays, and research papers related to Sociology and other relevant topics.