Valuing the Self: What We Can Learn from Other Cultures

Full of contemporary, relevant commentary and anthropological insight, this collection of provocative philosophical and psychological essays discusses general principles and specific ways to generate positive learning and development of individuals in communities and societies. The book sensitively and clearly distinguishes thought and behavior in primitive cultures, as well as raises questions and offers answers as to how the individual might be nurtured and taught to enjoy life with greater personal fulfillment, to engage others and to be engaged by them, and to live life to its fullest potential. Through comparative analysis of numerous cultures both Western and primitive, Lee suggests that in order for the individual to achieve autonomy (defined as "being in charge of myself") it is essential that the community (defined as "people around me") truly value the self. Lee's work holds that learning from other cultures and valuing their significance and worth are more central to what the discipline of anthropology is and should be about. In both the teaching and practice of anthropology, according to Lee, "what we can learn from other cultures" and apply to ourselves and our own world is precisely what gives meaning and value to the pursuit of anthropology as an academic discipline. Valuing the Self essentially captures the essence of anthropology's humanistic potential while simultaneously providing a rich and accurate sense of what life and culture are about in small-scale traditional societies. Lee's presentation of life in primitive cultures attacks the essence of the ethnocentric myth that human beings are necessarily better off in modern cultures.