<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The present article represents a partial outcome of a larger project that focuses on the history of the beginnings of anthropology as an organized science at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries, in the broader socio-political context of Central Europe. Attention is focused especially on the nationalist and social competitions that had an important impact upon intellectual developments, but in turn were influenced by the activities of scholars and their public activities. The case study of Vojtěch (Alberto) Frič, traveler and amateur anthropologist, who in the first two decades of the twentieth century presented to European scientific circles and the general public in the Czech Lands his magnanimous vision of the comparative study of religions, serves as a starting point for considerations concerning the general debates on the purpose, methods, and ethical dimensions of ethnology as these were resonating in Central European academia of the period under study.</p></abstract>

The present article represents a partial outcome of a larger project that focuses on the history of the beginnings of anthropology as an organized science at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries, in the broader socio-political context of Central Europe. Attention is focused especially on the nationalist and social competitions that had an important impact upon intellectual developments, but in turn were influenced by the activities of scholars and their public activities. The case study of Vojtěch (Alberto) Frič, traveler and amateur anthropologist, who in the first two decades of the twentieth century presented to European scientific circles and the general public in the Czech Lands his magnanimous vision of the comparative study of religions, serves as a starting point for considerations concerning the general debates on the purpose, methods, and ethical dimensions of ethnology as these were resonating in Central European academia of the period under study.

”The History of Human Stupidity”: Vojtěch Frič and his Program of a Comparative Study of Religions

Ethnologia Actualis

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

The present article represents a partial outcome of a larger project that focuses on the history of the beginnings of anthropology as an organized science at...

”The History of Human Stupidity”: Vojtěch Frič and his Program of a Comparative Study of Religions

Published Online: Jan 25, 2019

Page range: 42 - 67

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/eas-2018-0009

Keywords
Vojtěch (Alberto) Frič, Náprstek Museum, anthropology, comparative religious studies, history of anthropology

© 2018 Markéta Křížová, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

”The History of Human Stupidity”: Vojtěch Frič and his Program of a Comparative Study of Religions

Published Online: Jan 25, 2019

Page range: 42 - 67

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/eas-2018-0009

KeywordsVojtěch (Alberto) Frič, Náprstek Museum, anthropology, comparative religious studies, history of anthropology

© 2018 Markéta Křížová, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
Vojtěch (Alberto) Frič, Náprstek Museum, anthropology, comparative religious studies, history of anthropology