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“Filial Piety” and Cultural Difference

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Filial Obsessions

Part of the book series: Culture, Mind, and Society ((CMAS))

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Abstract

This chapter situates the study in theoretical terms. It argues that anthropology’s distinguishing object—“culture”—although essential, has evolved in the direction of an essentializing, idealist construct. This case is made with particular reference to Chinese patriliny. Across the disciplines, studies of China have approached patriliny as an irreducible mark of cultural difference—in effect, as the explanation for that which distinguishes China from other societies. This culturalist essentialism or particularism thus forecloses inquiry into how patriliny might be understood to manifest common human concerns. Cultural difference or distinctiveness cannot be comprehended in the absence of discerning what is common to cultural processes in general.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA

    P. Steven Sangren

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Sangren, P.S. (2017). “Filial Piety” and Cultural Difference. In: Filial Obsessions. Culture, Mind, and Society. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50493-3_3

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