Philosophy is a humanistic discipline that attempts to explain life in its many situations. It is divided into many different subfields or subjects such as morality, reality, language, logic, etc. It is term that can be applied in a general (universal) or specific (situational or cultural) sense. What the philosopher attempts to do is to understand nature and how we experience it. Methodologically, Philosophy is based on intuition, applied to personal experience at one extreme, and logical analysis based on mathematics at the other extreme.
Anthropology is a scientific and humanistic discipline that studies humanity as a physical biological organism and a social animal that is self aware. Anthropologists study how humans have and are able to consciously influence the environment by combining their physical (existential) uniqueness and their mental development that creates a unique “world view” (ideational) based on their individual/group experiences through time.
Anthropologists study humanity through direct observation and participation with their subjects. They document their findings in reports. By comparing the findings these reports document they seek to establish relationships via the comparative method. Such relationships range from unique features shared by the human animal; and, the identify differences between peoples based on how they explain life and natural world that they experience and have experienced. Anthropology is thus both scientific (a philosophical point of view that requires the validation and objective measurement of phenomena) and humanistic (a philosophical point of view that emphasizes the individual’s interpretation of experience).
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