Integral Anthropology

John Vincent Ferreira's (1922-2010) most important contribution to the theory of anthropology is his exposition of 'Integral Anthropology' as Philosophical Anthropology. He wanted anthropology to be a vehicle for understanding man in his fullness, with his various levels of mental activity in art, religion, and philosophy. Ferreira wanted anthropologists to avoid the pitfalls of scientism and reductionism - the fallacy of reducing man, for the sake of scientific convenience and simplicity, to something less than he is - by taking into consideration all his commanding mental, artistic, and spiritual capacities to fashion his culture and give it a personal and creative stamp. He lived at a time when scientism and reductionism dominated the social sciences and so he often had to move against the academic tide of his time. This book contains the major writings of John Vincent Ferreira. It will give the current generation of anthropologists an opportunity to look at anthropology in a broader way.