This essay invites us to understand ethnography not only as a science-like comparative enterprise but also as a spiritual discipline. This is because ethnography enables us to imagine other ways of living in the world. The fieldwork, the writing, and even the reading of ethnographies provide people with some external perspective on themselves. Ethnography thus allows people to develop a more a nuanced sense of what, for them, should constitute the good.

中文翻译：

---

人类学作为精神学科

本文邀请我们不仅将民族志理解为一门类似科学的比较事业，而且将其理解为一门精神学科。这是因为民族志使我们能够想象世界上其他的生活方式。田野调查、写作，甚至民族志的阅读，都为人们提供了一些关于自己的外部视角。因此，民族志使人们能够更加细致地了解什么对他们来说应该构成善。