ON PHILOSOPHICAL ANTHROPOLOGY: CAN IT BE A SCIENCE?

This study aims at investigating Philosophical anthropology which is commonly accepted as a multidisciplinary approach to human sciences. Philosophical anthropology is philosophy of man which considers the phenomenon of man within his contextualized cultural and historical existence. Philosophical anthropology purports to understand man's position in the world by elucidating the basic qualities and conditions which makes man what he is. Methodology of science requires using reductions like reduction of man into social or biological organism however; such a methodology results in some problems. Philosophical anthropologists propose that modern anthropologies cannot give complete description of the phenomenon of man. Reduction as the methodology of science may not be successful. This is why Philosophical anthropology is so important. Philosophical anthropology involves use of phenomenological methods in order to analyze and interpret the basic categories concerning the nature and culture of man instead of application of the methods used by natural sciences. The methods used by Philosophical anthropologists must permit us to perceive the meanings which cannot be articulated by the methods used in natural sciences. The methods of Philosophical anthropology comprise outcomes of the sciences like psychology, sociology, archeology and linguistics. However, Philosophical anthropology is insufficient in methods which provide criteria for true theory. The present study also purports to articulate and discuss whether Philosophical anthropology has any different characteristics providing us with basic knowledge of human nature and of the human condition or “total man”. Although Philosophical anthropology is accepted to offer a metaphysical foundation for the various sciences of man, there are difficulties in determining the truth of theories in Philosophical anthropology because of lacking of a scientific methodology.