Case report
Fieldwork: Man in the System of Nature and Priority of Natural Laws in Human Life
Elena Tinyakova
Abstract
Fieldwork is a branch of inseparable unity of natural and humanitarian sciences; it is aimed at the cultural origin of
humanity on the maximum level of its variety. Practically all natural sciences have some space determined by ethnic conscience
in nature cognition: ethnodemography, ethnobotany, ethnozoology, etc. Fieldwork guides the research of human
culture from the laws of nature. This kind of knowledge is useful to balance human relations with nature and avoid conflicts.
Peoples should exchange their wisdom in the dialogue with nature to be more safe. Fieldwork understood as traditional
culture only, explaining the variety of ethnoses on our earth, is just the narrow and diachronic level of this branch
of knowledge. The cosmological knowledge, where fantasy and not exhausted in its cognition understanding the world of
nature are mixed, forms the source of fieldwork and in many respects explains the direction of knowledge: the man finds
himself under the open sky, he is the child of nature. Then as time went on there appeared a gradual transition – first nature
was creating the man, then by and by he began turning to answer nature by his activity. Nowadays the man is actively
creating nature. There are two levels of fieldwork: the ancient one which deals with the origin of ethnoses and the
modern one which explores how contemporary life is determined by ethnic specific traits. Fieldwork is the core of multidisciplinary
situation in man’s knowledge. It is related to such humanitarian sciences: semiotics, culturology, sociology,
history, philosophy, literature, linguistics. In the cycle of natural sciences fieldwork stands close to anthropology, geography,
biology, demography. Fieldwork as a science has the two main levels – the »sophy« level and the logos »level«. The
first one discovers wisdom of human life, the second one is aimed at logical structuring of knowledge, here proceed various
classifications of peoples.
Keywords
fieldwork; ethnos; culture; tradition; nature; semiotics
Hrčak ID:
27407
URI
Publication date:
10.4.2007.
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