Anthropology as irony and philosophy, or the knots in simple ethnographic projects

Carrithers, M.

doi:10.14318/hau4.3.010

Anthropology as irony and philosophy, or the knots in simple ethnographic projects

Carrithers, M.

Authors

M. Carrithers

Abstract

In this essay on the idea of "anthropological knots" I lay out three closely related ideas. One is that the practice of ethnography may be regarded as being also the practice of philosophy, insofar as philosophy is the pursuit of knowledge about ourselves. The second is that this pursuit of ethnography/philosophy is in its nature ironical, which means roughly that it is woven, or knotted, in the encounter of differing viewpoints, just as Socrates' philosophical work was created in ironizing conversation between different persons and their different viewpoints. The third is that our philosophical, ironical ethnography is a performance to be celebrated; and, again, it is a performance that is woven, knotted together.

Citation

Carrithers, M. (2014). Anthropology as irony and philosophy, or the knots in simple ethnographic projects. HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, 4(3), 117-142. https://doi.org/10.14318/hau4.3.010

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Nov 30, 2014
Online Publication Date	Dec 31, 2014
Publication Date	Dec 1, 2014
Deposit Date	May 28, 2015
Publicly Available Date	Jun 1, 2015
Journal	HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory
Publisher	HAU Society for Ethnographic Theory
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	4
Issue	3
Pages	117-142
DOI	https://doi.org/10.14318/hau4.3.010