482 ANTHROPOLOGY 



investigation of his problems. No less must we demand that he 

 have a firm grasp of the general results of the anthropological method 

 as applied by various sciences. It alone will give his work that 

 historic perspective which constitutes its higher scientific value. 



A last word as to the value that the anthropological method is 

 assuming in the general system of our culture and education. I do 

 not wish to refer to its practical value to those who have to deal 

 with foreign races or with national questions. Of greater educational 

 importance is its power to make us understand the roots from which 

 our civilization has sprung, to impress us with the relative value 

 of all forms of culture, and thus serve as a check to an exaggerated 

 valuation of the standpoint of our own period, which we are only 

 too liable to consider the ultimate goal of human evolution, thus 

 depriving ourselves of the benefits to be gained from the teach- 

 ings of other cultures, and hindering an objective criticism of our 

 own work. 



