About the Subject of Ecological Anthropology. An Outine of the Problem

Abstract

The work is an attempt to outline the problems from the field of ecological anthropology. It was found that actually ecology of man is propagated in: (a) the physicalistic interpretation – energetics of live systems, (b) biological interpretation adaptation and adaptability of biological systems, (c) economistic interpretation – economy of the biosocial systems. The work postulates a multiaspect interpretation, defining ecological anthropology as a science; investigating the relations between the biological structure of human species, economic form by which man takes into possession and transforms the life environment, ideological justification of the chosen adaptation strategy and the form of interhuman relations which function in this strategy. 

Subject to analysis were also relations taking place between different forms of socio-cultural systems and the environment. Four "paradigms of the world picture" have been distinguished: (1) naturalism, (2) expansivism, (3) mechanicism, (4) systemism characterizing their most essential properties.

It has been found that the evaluation of the development level of the socio-cultural system has an essential meaning in the description and explanation of the biological processes. To the definite system types there correspond definite types of biological structures. In the biocultural evolution of man one can distinguish at least four stages of sociocultural-development which have corresponding definite intensities of biological, social economic and ideological phenomena. 

Figure 1 presents a theoretical curve of the increment of world population against the background of the main "paradigms of world picture"; figure 2 shows the types of population increment within diiferent paradigms, and figure 3 presents the most essential relations (thicker arrows) between the elements of socio-cultural systems in different paradigms.