H. Sidky | Miami University (original) (raw)

Papers by H. Sidky

Research paper thumbnail of Books Authored by God? Sacred Texts as Evidence of the Supernatural

Here then we are first to consider a book, presented to us by a barbarous and ignorant people, wr... more Here then we are first to consider a book, presented to us by a barbarous and ignorant people, written in an age when they were still more barbarous, and in all probability long after the facts which it relates, corroborated by no concurring testimony, and resembling those fabulous accounts, which every nation gives of its origin. — David Hume, Enquiries Concerning the Human Understanding (1748) A book that really came from the all-powerful, all-knowing, perfect creator of the universe would be unimaginably brilliant. […] Each point made each idea expressed would be inarguable and stunning. […] It would blow us away. It would be impossible to put down. It would touch each of us personally, regardless of our ages, our education, or our experiences. — Marshall Brain, How “God” Works (2014) All that is necessary, as it seems to me, to convince any reasonable person that the Bible is simply and purely of human invention— of barbarian invention— is to read it. — Robert Ingersoll, Lecture...

Research paper thumbnail of Witch-Hunting, Terror, and Social Control 255

Witchcraft, Lycanthropy, Drugs and Disease

Research paper thumbnail of Demonology: Ideology of Terror 101

Witchcraft, Lycanthropy, Drugs and Disease

Research paper thumbnail of Hallucinogenic Drugs and Witches 189

Research paper thumbnail of Torture: The Proof of All Proofs 117

Research paper thumbnail of Witch-Sects and Flying Cannibals: Fact or Fantasy? 51

Research paper thumbnail of Werewolves and Witches 215

Research paper thumbnail of The European Witch-Craze 23

Witchcraft, Lycanthropy, Drugs and Disease

Research paper thumbnail of Agropastoralism and Transhumance in Hunza

The Ecology of Pastoralism, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of The Black Death: Prelude to the Witch-Persecutions 77

Witchcraft, Lycanthropy, Drugs and Disease

Research paper thumbnail of Religion, Supernaturalism, the Paranormal and Pseudoscience

Religion, Supernaturalism, the Paranormal and Pseudoscience, 2019

Research paper thumbnail of Religion: An Anthropological Perspective

Perspektif agama dari sisi antropologi241 hlm

Research paper thumbnail of Perspectives on Culture: A Critical Introduction to Theory in Cultural Anthropology

1. The Nature of Anthropology and Anthropological Knowledge. 2. Science and Anthropology: Epistem... more 1. The Nature of Anthropology and Anthropological Knowledge. 2. Science and Anthropology: Epistemological Questions. 3. Evolutionism and the Beginnings of Anthropology during the Nineteenth Century. 4. Lewis Henry Morgan and the Evolution of Society. 5. The Diffusionists: Unbridled Imagination and the History of Culture. 6. Historical Particularism: The Anthropology of Franz Boas and the Demise of Theory. 7. After Boas: The Development of American Anthropology. 8. Bronislaw Malinowski, Functionalism, and Modern Anthropology. 9. From Functionalism to Structural-Functionalism: The Anthropology of Radcliffe-Brown. 10. Cultural Evolution Returns: Leslie White and Julian Steward. 11. French Structuralism: The Anthropology of Claude Lvi-Strauss. 12. Ethnoscience and Cognitive Anthropology: The Problem of Local Knowledge. 13. Symbols, Symbolic Anthropology and the Interpretation of Culture. 14. Scientific, Materialist and Marxist Anthropology. 15. Postmodern Anthropology. 16. Conclusion: A...

Research paper thumbnail of Cultural Materialism, Scientific Anthropology, Epistemology, and “Narrative Ethnographies of the Particular”

Research paper thumbnail of Halfway to the mountain : the Jirels of eastern Nepal

Research paper thumbnail of Religion, Supernaturalism, the Paranormal and Pseudoscience

Research paper thumbnail of Bitan, oracles, and healers in the Karakorams

Research paper thumbnail of Birds for words in Jirel: Structure and function in a Tibeto-Burman folk taxonomy

As a result of ethnographic field research conducted in the summer of 1999 among the Jirel, a Tib... more As a result of ethnographic field research conducted in the summer of 1999 among the Jirel, a Tibeto-Burman-speaking people in eastern Nepal, ethnosemantic data concerning the Jirel names for 134 species of birds found in their territory were collected. The semantic structure of these Jirel words for birds offers no surprises in the general folk classification literature in that they provide a clear Life Form taxon (gloss 'bird') and a reasonable set of generic taxa for the Jirel bird lexicon. The data were, however, missing any clear taxe at the Specific or Varietal levels, although Jirel speakers clearly subdivided the group. These subdivisions, as shown by the responses to sorting tasks, make reference to meanings that would be not expected in a taxonomic hierarchy model of folk taxonomies, but more closely conform to a natural core model.

Research paper thumbnail of A Critique of Postmodern Anthropology: In Defense of Disciplinary Origins and Traditions

This work provides a critique of the literary/interpretive approaches in cultural anthropology an... more This work provides a critique of the literary/interpretive approaches in cultural anthropology and their challenge to science, scientific anthropology, and disciplinary origins and traditions. It aims for a careful application of scientific analysis in the investigation of cultural processes.

Research paper thumbnail of Hunza, an ethnographic outline

Research paper thumbnail of Books Authored by God? Sacred Texts as Evidence of the Supernatural

Here then we are first to consider a book, presented to us by a barbarous and ignorant people, wr... more Here then we are first to consider a book, presented to us by a barbarous and ignorant people, written in an age when they were still more barbarous, and in all probability long after the facts which it relates, corroborated by no concurring testimony, and resembling those fabulous accounts, which every nation gives of its origin. — David Hume, Enquiries Concerning the Human Understanding (1748) A book that really came from the all-powerful, all-knowing, perfect creator of the universe would be unimaginably brilliant. […] Each point made each idea expressed would be inarguable and stunning. […] It would blow us away. It would be impossible to put down. It would touch each of us personally, regardless of our ages, our education, or our experiences. — Marshall Brain, How “God” Works (2014) All that is necessary, as it seems to me, to convince any reasonable person that the Bible is simply and purely of human invention— of barbarian invention— is to read it. — Robert Ingersoll, Lecture...

Research paper thumbnail of Witch-Hunting, Terror, and Social Control 255

Witchcraft, Lycanthropy, Drugs and Disease

Research paper thumbnail of Demonology: Ideology of Terror 101

Witchcraft, Lycanthropy, Drugs and Disease

Research paper thumbnail of Hallucinogenic Drugs and Witches 189

Research paper thumbnail of Torture: The Proof of All Proofs 117

Research paper thumbnail of Witch-Sects and Flying Cannibals: Fact or Fantasy? 51

Research paper thumbnail of Werewolves and Witches 215

Research paper thumbnail of The European Witch-Craze 23

Witchcraft, Lycanthropy, Drugs and Disease

Research paper thumbnail of Agropastoralism and Transhumance in Hunza

The Ecology of Pastoralism, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of The Black Death: Prelude to the Witch-Persecutions 77

Witchcraft, Lycanthropy, Drugs and Disease

Research paper thumbnail of Religion, Supernaturalism, the Paranormal and Pseudoscience

Religion, Supernaturalism, the Paranormal and Pseudoscience, 2019

Research paper thumbnail of Religion: An Anthropological Perspective

Perspektif agama dari sisi antropologi241 hlm

Research paper thumbnail of Perspectives on Culture: A Critical Introduction to Theory in Cultural Anthropology

1. The Nature of Anthropology and Anthropological Knowledge. 2. Science and Anthropology: Epistem... more 1. The Nature of Anthropology and Anthropological Knowledge. 2. Science and Anthropology: Epistemological Questions. 3. Evolutionism and the Beginnings of Anthropology during the Nineteenth Century. 4. Lewis Henry Morgan and the Evolution of Society. 5. The Diffusionists: Unbridled Imagination and the History of Culture. 6. Historical Particularism: The Anthropology of Franz Boas and the Demise of Theory. 7. After Boas: The Development of American Anthropology. 8. Bronislaw Malinowski, Functionalism, and Modern Anthropology. 9. From Functionalism to Structural-Functionalism: The Anthropology of Radcliffe-Brown. 10. Cultural Evolution Returns: Leslie White and Julian Steward. 11. French Structuralism: The Anthropology of Claude Lvi-Strauss. 12. Ethnoscience and Cognitive Anthropology: The Problem of Local Knowledge. 13. Symbols, Symbolic Anthropology and the Interpretation of Culture. 14. Scientific, Materialist and Marxist Anthropology. 15. Postmodern Anthropology. 16. Conclusion: A...

Research paper thumbnail of Cultural Materialism, Scientific Anthropology, Epistemology, and “Narrative Ethnographies of the Particular”

Research paper thumbnail of Halfway to the mountain : the Jirels of eastern Nepal

Research paper thumbnail of Religion, Supernaturalism, the Paranormal and Pseudoscience

Research paper thumbnail of Bitan, oracles, and healers in the Karakorams

Research paper thumbnail of Birds for words in Jirel: Structure and function in a Tibeto-Burman folk taxonomy

As a result of ethnographic field research conducted in the summer of 1999 among the Jirel, a Tib... more As a result of ethnographic field research conducted in the summer of 1999 among the Jirel, a Tibeto-Burman-speaking people in eastern Nepal, ethnosemantic data concerning the Jirel names for 134 species of birds found in their territory were collected. The semantic structure of these Jirel words for birds offers no surprises in the general folk classification literature in that they provide a clear Life Form taxon (gloss 'bird') and a reasonable set of generic taxa for the Jirel bird lexicon. The data were, however, missing any clear taxe at the Specific or Varietal levels, although Jirel speakers clearly subdivided the group. These subdivisions, as shown by the responses to sorting tasks, make reference to meanings that would be not expected in a taxonomic hierarchy model of folk taxonomies, but more closely conform to a natural core model.

Research paper thumbnail of A Critique of Postmodern Anthropology: In Defense of Disciplinary Origins and Traditions

This work provides a critique of the literary/interpretive approaches in cultural anthropology an... more This work provides a critique of the literary/interpretive approaches in cultural anthropology and their challenge to science, scientific anthropology, and disciplinary origins and traditions. It aims for a careful application of scientific analysis in the investigation of cultural processes.

Research paper thumbnail of Hunza, an ethnographic outline