Levi-Strauss

Claude Levi-Strauss was an anthropologist of French. He is famous for his contribution to the development of structuralism. His method of research has had a large influence on the development of contemporary thought.

He studied philosophy in his young days. This experience influenced later his research. Then he changed his major to anthropology. Before his works, the theme of anthropology put importance on the study on historical aspect of human culture changes. For example, an anthropologist went to the village of some uncivilized tribes and investigated how their customs had changed historically. However Levi-Strauss emphasized not historical change but the structure of them. It is more important for him to realize essence of human beings by understanding what the structure means.

When Levi-Strauss was in America seeking for political asylum, he was taught linguistic method of Ferdinand de Saussure by Jacobson who was also in America for political asylum from Switzerland. He applied the method to analysis of customs. He make much of "structure" in the analysis of human being's customs. By applying the method of linguistics to anthropology, he succeeded in solving the mystery of some tribes' customs which meant apparently nothing and had remained unsolved long time. Like this, his name got to be known.

Jean-Paul Sartre who is famous as an exponent of existentialism reigned over thought in French after World WarⅡ. Sartre's thought inherited the tendency of historical recognition that a rational man can not misjudge recognition about historical political problems　from Marxism. Although Sartre declared the death of God or nothingness of absolute truth, he admitted quality of perfection about historical recognition of Marxism. Levi-Strauss blamed Sartre for this point, because this logic about history in the tendency to overestimate own thought as objective thought, and insisted that this tendency was the arrogance of western civilization. This indication of Levi-Strauss denied the linear view of history in the western civilization.

Like this, structuralism accomplished sloughing off modernism.

Structuralism is often blamed by Post-Structuralists for its mistakes. However Structuralism is important for us to understand contemporary thought.