Ethnologic and ethnomathematics.
Between anthropology and formal sciences
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17561/rae.v21.5534Keywords:
Ethnologic, Ethnomathematics, Anthropology, Culture, EvolutionAbstract
The link between anthropology and social and natural sciences is well known, however, what do we know about its relationship with the formal sciences? This essay explores some chapters of the link between anthropology, logic and mathematics. First, Frazer’s magical thinking, Durkheim’s primitive classifications, Lévy-Bruhl’s prelogical mentality, the logic of zande witchcraft, Hutchins’ ethnography on trobriand inference, Hamill’s ethno-logic and Cooper’s three-valued primitive logic are discussed. Second, the numeration in Lévy-Bruhl’s pre-logical mentality, D’Ambrosio’s ethnomathematics, Everett’s anumerical languages and the impact on philosophy of mathematics are analyzed. Likewise, an evolutionary hypothesis that understands the ethnologics and ethnomathematics is given. The purpose is to demonstrate that anthropology is capable of studying formal objects, thanks to its interaction with formal sciences.
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