Claude Lévi-Strauss

Claude Lévi-Strauss

Anthropologist

1908-2009

French anthropologist who revolutionized the social sciences by applying structural linguistics to cultural phenomena. His four-volume Mythologiques analyzed the underlying logic of myths across cultures, demonstrating that human minds share universal cognitive structures despite cultural diversity.

1 Editorial
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Key Contributions

  • Founded structural anthropology - cultures as systems of symbolic meaning
  • Analyzed myths revealing universal mental structures across societies
  • Showed binary oppositions (nature/culture, raw/cooked) organize thought
  • Transformed anthropology from descriptive to analytical science
  • Bridged humanities and social sciences with linguistic methods

Famous Quotes

"The scientist is not a person who gives the right answers, but one who asks the right questions."
"The wise man doesn't give the right answers, he poses the right questions."