| Anthropology has traditionally been occupied with the study of non-Western traditions. However its concept of what constitutes an understanding of non-Western traditions has been changing.;In recent decades the relationships between different cultural traditions have become more and more problematic on a global scale. Hence anthropology has been forced to rethink its aim and method in order to make progress toward the solution of the problem. The main purpose of our thesis is to find a way to overcome this crisis, and to achieve an understanding of how to practice a fruitful critique of anthropology.;Our work consists of three parts.;In the first part we examine a recent development in anthropology: the growing awareness of the inadequacies of past studies, and the growing body of interpretive literature regarding these inadequacies. And we will attempt to determine the relationship between these various interpretations and our understanding of the root cause of the inadequacies, and to show the necessity for what we shall call the critique of anthropology as a form of historical study.;It is in order to discover what, in general, a critique of historical study consists of, we turn in the second part of this thesis to the work of the British historian Herbert Butterfield.;Butterfield tried to define and understand the proper practice of historiography. His understanding, his example of a critique of historiography has a great bearing on our discussion because, even though the immediate object of his reflection is the practice of historiography, he saw the essence of the study of history which includes in its most general form the study of anthropology. Hence in the process of demonstrating what the critique of historiography consist of, he also demonstrated what the critique of historical study in general consisted of. In point of fact he presented us with a way of thinking which enables us to achieve the goal of understanding humanity.;And lastly, in the third part, we briefly examine Japanese studies as an example of general historical studies. Japanese studies comprise the study of a non-Western tradition, and involve both anthropology and historiography in the traditional sense. This provides an excellent opportunity for us to see how such academic disciplines as anthropology and historiography, with their individual contributions, constitute a part of the most fundamental study of humanity, and to see how they can contribute to its general goal. Here we examine a number of concrete instances of past Japanese studies from the point of view of the critique of historical studies. |
