I.- “La Pensée Sauvage” by Lévi-Strauss, the scientific explanation is the replacement of the more intelligible complexity with the less intelligible one- The Enlightenment saw human nature as all the same, regularly defined, do not take into account the variability of man throughout history - Culture was born from the idea that man is inseparable from what surrounds him - There must be a balance between universal and local (culturally determined), not dualistic like the Balinese in their dissociated trances II.- “ "Stratigraphic" conception of human factors, in which man is composed of layers of different factors of humanity - Anthropologists began the search for the "consensus gentium" (consensus of all humanity) - In order for the universal/particular dualism to hold, the universal aspects must be substantial, based on scientific processes, defensible; Geertz thinks the gentium approach fails- No generalizations can be made about man except- Parsons and others have argued that cultural universals are human responses to the realities that all humans face- Common human action is much more significant than the simple response to needIII.- Universals are accepted to avoid relativism and historicism, but the specific can teach a lot about the general- Culture is not a complex of concrete behavior models, but a set of control mechanisms to govern behavior - Man depends on such control mechanisms and they are not genetic - Humans use social symbols and ideas to create meaning: culture did not appear suddenly, it evolved with humanity; genetics were not enough and men were guided and completed through the creation of culture. Man has a great capacity to learn, but there is also a lot to learn; culture helps us learn what we need to knowIV.- Enlightenment thought...... at the center of the paper ......p in a boundless ocean. But what is an ocean if not a multitude of drops?” So, in the end, what does it matter that we are human? Perhaps, as Christians and as human beings, we need to start seeing others as human beings. We are so quick to apologize for what the church did to other human beings during the crusades, or to human beings before black people were free. When we recognize our humanity and stop believing that we are the judges of who is human, perhaps we will apologize to gays, lesbians, bisexuals, pot smokers, Democrats, Republicans and independents for what people have done. done to them. them in the name of the church. Against all odds, we are told that one man will never make a difference. I think the beauty of humanity is that it's true. One man can never, ever make a difference alone. But humanity as a whole, working together as one human race? This might shake things up a bit.