Conference paper
https://doi.org/10.17234/SEC.37.3
On the Connections Between Ethnology and Anthropology in the Work of Vitomir Belaj
Darko Polšek
Abstract
This presentation is devoted to analysing the relationship between ethnology and anthropology within the oeuvre of Vitomir Belaj. The author highlights Belaj’s key role in establishing anthropology studies at the University of Zagreb and explores Belaj’s
universalist approach, which sought to bridge the divide between cultural and physical anthropology. The author focuses on Belaj’s work Hod kroz godinu (A Walk Through the Year) to illustrate the thesis that cultural and symbolic patterns develop as solutions to universal problems arising from the natural environment and biological givens. Finally, the author draws on the philosophy of Nicolai Hartmann and Karl Popper’s falsificationism to outline a methodological foundation for a future complementarity and synthesis of ethnology and anthropology, emphasizing that the study of humankind must rest on insights drawn from multiple disciplines.
Keywords
Vitomir Belaj; ethnology; anthropology; Nicolai Hartmann
Hrčak ID:
342811
URI
Publication date:
30.12.2025.
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