Nature Versus Culture: A Mistaken Conundrum

Abstract

What constitutes humanity? Is it nature or culture? Culturalists like David Schneider or Marshall Sahlins stress culture, whereas biologically 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 it figures 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 underlies the kinship debates, it is useful to note that the concept of mental versus physical health dichotomizes life processes that must be recognized as embodied and holistic.