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International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy

Book | Chapter

224061

Beyond cultural relativism?

Tim Ingold's "ontology of dwelling" revisited

Are John Knudsen

pp. 181-201

Abstract

Tim Ingold has over the past decades emerged as one of the most influential theoreticians of man–environment relations. This chapter discusses the relevance of Ingold's work to the ontological turn in social anthropology and argues that Ingold's "ontology of dwelling" can be considered a theoretical middle ground: it supports the ontology turn's dismissal of cultured worldviews, but rejects the claim to singular and incommensurable worldviews. Through a critical review of this position, the chapter analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of Ingold's theoretical program, his break with a language-centered epistemology, and links to Heidegger's phenomenology. In order to contextualize Ingolds' work, the chapter juxtaposes recent inquiries into perceiving and imagining landscapes with his attempt to overcome the realist versus relativist positions. To this end, Ingold's notion, the temporality of the landscape, is used to examine engagement with the landscape in a remote North Pakistan valley.

Publication details

Published in:

Enge Bertelsen Bjørn, Bendixsen Synnve (2016) Critical anthropological engagements in human alterity and difference. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.

Pages: 181-201

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-40475-2_8

Full citation:

Knudsen Are John (2016) „Beyond cultural relativism?: Tim Ingold's "ontology of dwelling" revisited“, In: B. Enge bertelsen & S. Bendixsen (eds.), Critical anthropological engagements in human alterity and difference, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 181–201.