Franz Boas s 1940 Race Language and Culture is a monumentally important text in the history of its discipline collecting the articles and essays that helped make Boas known as the father of American anthropology An encapsulation of a career dedicated to fighting against the false theories of so called scientific racism that abounded in the first half of the 20th century Race Language and Culture is one of the most historically significant texts in its field and central to its arguments and impact are Boas s formidable interpretative skills It could be said indeed that Race Language and Culture is all about the centrality of interpretation in questioning our assumptions about the world In critical thinking interpretation is the ability to clarify and posit definitions for the terms and ideas that make up an argument Boas s work demonstrates the importance of another vital context For Boas who argued passionately for cultural relativism it was vital to interpret individual cultures by their own standards and context not by ours Only through comparing and contrasting the two can we reach he suggested a better understanding of humankind Though our own questions might be smaller it is always worth considering the crucial element Boas brought to how does context change definition Race Language and CultureI haven t had the time to read the original text but we re studying different anthropological studies and this one interested me Hope to read the original soon Race Language and Culture