Bronislaw Malinowski : a critical analysis

The purpose or this study is to carefully and critically examine the methodologies and preconceptions of Bronislaw Malinowski. Because Malinowski was very influential in the field of anthropology and the social sciences in general, his methodologies and preconceptions are not peculiar to him alone. As a matter of fact a whole "school"--the so-called "functional school"--was built up around Malinowski. Moreover, the tradition which Malinowski typifies is symptomatic of fundamental developments which were/are taking place in all fields of inquiry. That is, the basic problems which confronted Malinowski and with which he struggled are similar to those facing economists, philosophers, psychologists, historians, political scientists, sociologists--all cultural investigators. For example, the problem of evaluation is universal. Thus, this thesis will have a wider orientation than that indicated by the title