Marvin Harris and Other Cultural Materialists Explain the Existence of Jewish

question 19

Multiple Choice

Marvin Harris and other cultural materialists explain the existence of Jewish and Muslim taboos on eating pork by explaining that

• A)a pig is classified as an impure animal in a system of meaning whereby only cloven-hooved animals that chew their cud are classified as pure and sacred
• B)pigs are too well adapted to life in hot climates and would quickly reproduce and destroy the natural habitat of the region
• C)the taboo is a relic of a more distant past when the ancestral Semites were Babylonian slaves and the consumption of pork was associated with their captors
• D)this taboo can be explained ecologically,but does have a social function in promoting social identity
• E)this taboo can be explained materially as pigs were abandoned when the the ancient people of Israel fled Egypt and the difficulty of herding this animal back to the land of Israel led to a taboo on pork which was later adopted by the Muslim faith

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Definitions:

Extrinsic Freedom

Refers to freedom limited or determined by external factors or circumstances.

Determinists

The belief that all events, including moral choices, are determined completely by previously existing causes, in relation to the philosophical idea that every event or state of affairs, including every human decision and action, is the necessary result of antecedent states of affairs.

Free Choices

The ability or power to make decisions without constraints, enabling one to act on one's own volition.

Indeterminism

The doctrine that not all events, including moral choices, are determined by previously existing causes and that humans have the capability for free will.