El recurso del método en la constitución de los campos disciplinares: De la evidencia a la inferencia...

Abstract

P. Bourdieu’s contributions to disciplinary fields constitute the theoretical framework to understand the operational processes within the production of knowledge. Anthropology—in particular Archeology—posits an interesting case as it has been influenced by evolutionary theory and several traditions from the social and natural sciences. Its context has been abundant in diverse philosophical ideas on humankind, from God´s creature to a biological and cultural being, one that results from material evolution and assigned as subject and object to an epistemological dimension. The questions surrounding the development of this discipline are briefly reconstructed, starting with the methodologies that trace its logic and traditions. Also analyzed are those tensions emerging from the limits of material evidence in inferences concerning cultural patterns, where we assess the pros and cons of ‘medium range theories’ as a resource to interpret evidence.