Anthropology never has had a distinct subject matter, and because it doesn't have a real method, there's a great deal of anxiety over what it is.

Quote by Clifford Geertz

Topics: Clifford Geertz Quotes

Younger anthropologists have the notion that anthropology is too diverse. The number of things done...

Younger anthropologists have the notion that anthropology is too diverse. The number of things done...

Two people have been really liberating in my mind; one is Wittgenstein and the other...

Two people have been really liberating in my mind; one is Wittgenstein and the other...

I've written a lot of books which are written from the moon - the view...

I've written a lot of books which are written from the moon - the view...

If there's ever a place where you can't argue that you can put the facts...

If there's ever a place where you can't argue that you can put the facts...

I think the American university system still seems to be the best system in the...

I think the American university system still seems to be the best system in the...

People keep asking how anthropology is different from sociology, and everybody gets nervous.

People keep asking how anthropology is different from sociology, and everybody gets nervous.

Anthropology in general has always been fairly hospitable to female scholars, and even to feminist...

Anthropology in general has always been fairly hospitable to female scholars, and even to feminist...

Gender consciousness has become involved in almost every intellectual field: history, literature, science, anthropology. There's...

Gender consciousness has become involved in almost every intellectual field: history, literature, science, anthropology. There's...

I had a hard time convincing students that they were going to North Africa to...

I had a hard time convincing students that they were going to North Africa to...

If I remember correctly, a writer is someone who wants to convey information. Language or...

If I remember correctly, a writer is someone who wants to convey information. Language or...

Meaning is socially, historically, and rhetorically constructed.

Meaning is socially, historically, and rhetorically constructed.

I don't think things are moving toward an omega point; I think they're moving toward...

I don't think things are moving toward an omega point; I think they're moving toward...

I've often been accused of making anthropology into literature, but anthropology is also field research....

I've often been accused of making anthropology into literature, but anthropology is also field research....

I think what's known about neurology is still scattered and uncertain.

I think what's known about neurology is still scattered and uncertain.

Believing, with Max Weber, that man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he...

Believing, with Max Weber, that man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he...

The point of literary criticism in anthropology is not to replace research, but to find...

The point of literary criticism in anthropology is not to replace research, but to find...

We're getting closer to our nature.

We're getting closer to our nature.

Most anthropologists are doing straightforward ethnography, and should.

Most anthropologists are doing straightforward ethnography, and should.

I was trained in the '50s as a New Critic. I remember what literature was...

I was trained in the '50s as a New Critic. I remember what literature was...

It's always amusing to look at how something early in the 20th century was written...

It's always amusing to look at how something early in the 20th century was written...