The post modernist critique of Objectivism, Realism and Essentialism has somewhat shattered the foundations of anthropology, seriously questioning the legitimacy of studying others. By confronting the critique and turning it into a vital part of the anthropological debate, A Passage to Anthropology provides a rigorous discussion of central theoretical problems in anthropology that will find a readership in the social sciences and the humanities. It makes the case for a renewed and invigorated scholarly anthropology with extensive reference to recent anthropological debates in Europe and the US, as well as to new developments in linguistic theory and, especially, newer American philosophy. Through discussions of the relationship between language and the world, of 'the empirical', of the nature of the anthropological imagination, of the point of raising cultural and theoretical awareness, it is shown that far from invalidating the scholarly, even scientific, ambition of anthropology, the recent insights into subjectivity, reflexivity and the writing of culture give the discipline a new life and a new pertinence in the world. Although still anchored in detailed ethnographi the lasting significance of anthropology is located in its theoretical contribution.