ANTH 222 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Traditional Authority, Opioid
Document Summary
Other species have social organisation, but only humans have rules. Nation states, religious doctrines, political parties, unions, militaries, marriages, contracts, courts, police. Individuals can impose rules on themselves, but those rules are informed by social pressures or norms. People work towards becoming a more important member of society. All species, at least vertabrate species, have di erent forms of social organisations. Society is not unique to the human species. Only humans have rules, in the sense that they are codi ed and institutionalised with the goal of establishing some sense of law and order. Like animals, humans possess an instinct to mate and reproduce however it is unique of humanity to institutionalize and legalize marriage. If we look back in history where warfare was signi cant, there was the prominence of polygamous marriage, which was practical at a time when societies were struggling to subside and the safety of women and children was unstable.