CHAPTER FIVE - Functional Explanation

Abstract

Objections are often raised against functional explanations because of their alleged inability to account for change, their antihistorical character, and their reinforcement of political conservatism. Such objections fail to distinguish between functional explanations per se and particular functionalist theories of society that have been offered by some anthropologists. Functionalist theories go beyond the mere employment of explanations that refer to roles and purposes. They require viewing societies as organic units, and demand either that every feature of a society be explained with reference to its contribution to the maintenance of the whole or that every cultural feature be explained in terms of its role in satisfying some basic need. One important use of functional explanations in these theories is to account for the stability of social arrangements, thus supporting the charges raised above. This chapter discusses the importance of several types of functional explanation for archaeology. It also presents various objections to functional explanation.