Meaning & Origin!
The main idea behind structuralism.
What are "the effects of universal patterns in human thought on cultural phenomena"?
Note: Structuralism holds that all human activity and its products, even perception and thought itself, are constructed and not natural, and in particular that everything has meaning because of the language system in which we operate. argues that any piece of writing (or any "signifying system") has no origin, and that authors merely inhabit pre-existing structures ("langue") that enable them to make any particular sentence or story ("parole"), hence the idea that "language speaks us", rather than that we speak language.
One example of a deeply rooted pattern of human cognition studied that is universally recognized.
What is "the kinship system"?
Note: With much of his work in structuralism focusing on family relationships, Levi-Strauss used the concept of binary opposition to explain marriage and marriage taboos. For instance, almost all, if not all, cultures feel that marriage between blood siblings is a big no-no. To Levi-Strauss, the root of this belief is not found in some sort of ethical system or some Puritanical (religious and moral) belief in right or wrong. Instead, it's simply a product of the human mind's propensity to classify things as good or bad.
Taking it a step further, some structuralists, including Levi-Strauss, would argue that the human mind recognizes the need for different cultures to intermarry in order to create cooperation among groups of people. This cooperation will then lead to human life continuing. Stated simply, it might be easy to kill the guy from the neighboring tribe. However, once that guy marries your sister and they have kids, it's much harder to kill your sister's husband and your nephew's dad!
If everyone married their siblings, this cooperation of sorts would not occur. Therefore, the human mind uses binary opposition to structure incestual marriage as bad and marrying outside the brother/sister, mother/father family as good.
This critique relates to a lack of "something."
What is "Lack of Proof"?
Note: Claude Levi-Strauss did not have proof of his concepts, but rather he assumed the fundamental structures of human thought to be universal. The possibility for scientific answers and common sense do not factor into Levi-Strauss' Structuralist theory. Levi-Strauss' argument that all human brains contain the same psychological ideas was his contention only, and he never fully explained his assumptions.
The idea that human species, despite differences in race and culture, share the same basic psychological make-up.
What is "psychic unity"?
Note: This link between societal norms and the mind's thought process is ingrained so deeply within individual cultures that it becomes logical thought, taking specific actions, thoughts and activities and conceptualizing them. Even with universal knowledge, every culture retains its own specific cultural structure
The first metaphysical assumption in the methodology of Structuralism.
What is "the world is a product of ideas"?
Note:Whatever we see in this world – a house, a garden, a family or a state – is nothing but a creation of ideas. This assumption has its roots in Immanuel Kant’s philosophy. It is also an assumption of structuralism. It tries to find out the underlying structure or logic of general ideas. It also claims to show how we or rather our ideas produce the world we see. What we understand by structuralism in general goes with the view that the world around us is the product of ideas. Structuralism tries to find out the logic which underlines these ideas.
This critique highlights the ignorance of this individual trait.
What is "Ignorance of Individual Differentiation"?
Note: Another criticism of Levi-Strauss and his structuralist theory was the assumption that all human minds were identical. Levi-Strauss' "synchronic approach, which advocates a “psychic unity” of all human minds, has been criticized because it does not account for individual human action historically." [46] This leaves no room for human individuality, since all human minds will eventually come to the same conclusions. However, individuality does exist in society, especially through time. Which brings us to the next critique of Structuralism, it is ahistorical.
The field that (anthropological) structuralism was based upon.
What is "Field of Structural Linguistics"?
Note: Structuralism is the program which Lévi-Strauss, borrowing from structural linguistics, tried to introduce into anthropology
The second metaphysical assumption in the methodology of Structuralism.
What is "The world as a logical pattern"?
Note: Structuralists explains structuralism entirely with reference to logics. The social reality that we find in the world is always fluctuating and changing, but behind this change, there is always an inner logic. Structuralism notwithstanding its variety, tries to find the logical order which is constant behind the change. This constitutes the second assumption about structuralism.
This critique highlights the disregard for the past of this theory.
What is "Ahistorical"?
Note: Structuralism looks at society in the present without any regard for the past, completely ignoring the historical context of the development of ideas. Structuralism, therefore, does not account for social change which gives a weakness to structuralist claims.
A concept that coordinates certain ways of thinking.
What are "Binary Oppositions"?
Note: Examples of binary systems studied could be: "life vs. death," "culture vs. nature," or "self vs. other." Each individual concept has an opposite concept that it is co-dependent on. This is known as unity of opposites; no one of these ideas can exist without the other. Every community takes these concepts and makes them specific to their individual culture. Presenting universal ideas and oppositions, and uniting them under a unique, cultural stand-point, eventually forming a structured and organized society.
The third metaphysical assumption in the methodology of Structuralism.
What is "the death of the subject"?
Note: The non-structuralist notion of society is that the people are the authors of their thoughts and actions. It is the individual who thinks, it is he who takes decisions and it is he who acts. But this notion is rejected by the structuralists. What structuralists believe is that people are not puppets of their ideas, and their actions are not determined by choice and decision but the outcomes of the underlying structure of ideas and the logic of these ideas. In other words, whatever people do is determined by the underlying structure of logic a society holds.
This critique focuses on the developed version of structuralism.
What is "Post-Structuralist Critique"?
Note: Post-Structuralists differed from Structuralists in that they regarded "the study of underlying structures itself a cultural product and therefore subject to myriad biases and misinterpretations. To understand an object, it is necessary to study both the object itself, and the systems of knowledge which were coordinated to produce the object. (Ex: Lion) In this way, post-structuralism positioned itself as a study of how knowledge is produced. Post-Structuralists imagined it would be more effective to "emphasize history to analyze descriptive concepts" and support their claims.
What is "The Continental Philosophy Movement"?
Note: This movement took place throughout the 1960s in Europe. Continental Philosophy refers to a set of traditions of 19th and 20th Century philosophy in mainland Europe. It is a general term for philosophical schools and movements not included under the label Analytic Philosophy, which was the other, largely Anglophone, main philosophical tradition of the period.
The key individual who developed Structuralism.
Who is "Claude Lévi-Strauss"?
Note: Claude Lévi-Strauss is known as the founder of the structuralist school of thought, with the belief that certain cultural facts are universal due to physical, or structural, factors.