本篇文章共分 6 段，針對社會學中的功能主義，說明兩套主要學說，其適切的應用例子，以及兩者分別的未竟之處。

本篇考題英文原文與對應之中文翻譯整理如下。練習作答解題時若有對語意不清楚之處，請仔細查閱對照，以提升閱讀理解能力。

Functionalism 功能主義

1. 功能主義是什麼？

   In biology, different parts of an organism may be described by their functions or the parts they play in maintaining the life of the whole organism. Functionalism in social science similarly looks for the role (function) some aspect of culture or social life plays in maintaining a system. Two quite different schools of functionalism arose in conjunction with two British anthropologists – Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942) and A.R. Radcliffe-Brown (1881-1955).

   在生物學中，一個有機體的不同部分可以用它們的功能或它們在維持整個有機體的生命中所扮演的角色來描述。社會科學中的功能主義也同樣在尋找文化或社會生活的某些方面在維持一個系統中所扮演的角色（功能）。兩個完全不同的功能主義流派是在兩位英國人類學家—布羅尼斯瓦夫．馬林諾夫斯基 (1884-1942) 和A.R.拉德克利夫．布朗 (1881-1955) 的合作下產生的。

2. 馬林諾夫斯基版本

   Malinowski’s version of functionalism assumes that all cultural traits serve the needs of individuals in a society – that the function of a cultural trait is its ability to satisfy some basic or derived need of the members of the group. The basic needs include nutrition reproduction, bodily comfort, safety, relaxation movement, and growth. Some aspects of the culture satisfy these basic needs. In doing so, they give rise to derived needs that must also be satisfied. For example, cultural traits that satisfy the basic need for food give rise to the secondary or derived need for cooperation in food collection or production. Societies will in turn develop forms of political organization and social control that guarantee the required cooperation. How did Malinowski explain such things as religion and magic? He suggested that since humans always live with a certain amount of uncertainty and anxiety, they need stability and continuity. Religion and magic are functional in that they serve those needs.

   馬林諾夫斯基版本的功能主義假定，所有的文化特徵都是為社會中的個人需求服務的—文化特徵的功能是它能夠滿足群體成員的一些基本或衍生需求。基本需求包括營養繁衍、身體舒適、安全、放鬆運動和成長。文化的某些方面滿足了這些基本需求。在這樣做的過程中，它們產生了必須要得到滿足的衍生需求。例如，滿足對食物的基本需求的文化特徵引起了在食物收集或生產中合作的次要或衍生需求。社會將反過來發展政治組織和社會控制的形式，以保證所需的合作。馬林諾夫斯基是如何解釋宗教和巫術這樣的東西呢？他提出，由於人類總是生活在一定程度的不確定性和焦慮中，他們需要穩定和連續性。宗教和巫術是功能性的，因為它們為這些需求服務。

3. 拉德克利夫布朗版本

   Unlike Malinowski, Radcliffe-Brown felt that the various aspects of social behavior maintain a society’s social structure rather than satisfying individual needs. By social structure he meant the total network of existing social relationships in a society. Since Radcliffe-Brown’s version of functionalism emphasized the social structure as the system to be maintained through the development of supporting rules, practices, and customs, the term “structural functionalism” is often used to describe his approach.

   與馬林諾夫斯基不同，拉德克利夫．布朗認為，社會行為的各個方面維持著一個社會的社會結構，而不是滿足個人的需要。他所說的社會結構是指一個社會中現有社會關係的總網路。由於拉德克利夫．布朗的功能主義版本強調社會結構是要通過發展支持性的規則、慣例和習俗來維持的系統，所以「結構功能主義」一詞經常被用來描述他的主張。

4. 結構功能主義的例子

   An example of Radcliffe-Brown’s structural-functionalist approach is his analysis of the ways in which different societies deal with the tensions that are likely to develop among people related through marriage. To reduce potential tension between in-laws, he suggested societies do one of two things. They may develop strict rules forbidding the persons involved ever to interact face to face (as do the Navajos, for example, in requiring a man to avoid his mother-in-law) or they may allow mutual disrespect and teasing between the in-laws. Radcliffe-Brown suggested that avoidance is likely to occur between in-laws of different generations, whereas disrespectful teasing is likely between in-laws of the same generation. Both avoidance and teasing he suggested, are ways to avoid real conflict and help maintain the social structure.

   拉德克利夫．布朗的結構功能主義主張的一個例子是，他分析了不同社會處理由於婚姻關係可能產生的緊張關係的方式。為了減少姻親之間的潛在緊張關係，他認為社會會做兩件事中的一件。他們可以制定嚴格的規則，禁止相關人員面對面交流（例如，納瓦霍人要求男人避開他的婆婆），或者他們可以允許姻親之間相互不尊重和調侃。拉德克利夫．布朗認為，迴避可能發生在不同世代的姻親之間，而不尊重的戲弄則可能發生在同一世代的姻親之間。他認為，迴避和戲弄都是避免真正衝突的方式，有助於維持社會結構。

5. 馬林諾夫斯基理論的問題

   The major objection to Malinowski’s functionalism is that it cannot readily account for cultural variation. Most of the needs he identified –such as the need for food – are universal, all societies must deal with them if they are to survive. Thus, while the functionalist approach may tell us why all societies engage in food getting, it cannot tell why different societies have different food-getting practices. In other words, functionalism does not explain why certain specific cultural patterns arise to fulfill a need that might be fulfilled just as easily by any of a number of alternative possibilities.

   對馬林諾夫斯基的功能主義的主要反對意見是，它不能輕易地解釋文化的差異。他所確定的大多數需求—如對食物的需求—都是普遍的，所有社會如果要生存就必須處理這些需求。因此，雖然功能主義的方法可以告訴我們為什麼所有的社會都在獲取食物，但它不能說明為什麼不同的社會有不同的獲取食物的做法。換句話說，功能主義並不能解釋為什麼會出現某些特定的文化模式來滿足一種需求，而這種需求也可以通過一些其他的可能性來輕易滿足。

6. 結構功能主義的問題

   A major problem of the structural-functionalist approach is that it is difficult to determine whether a particular custom is in fact functional in the sense of contributing to the maintenance of the social system. In biology the contribution an organ makes to the health or life of an animal can be assessed by removing it. But we cannot subtract a cultural trait from a society to see if the trait really does contribute to the maintenance of the group. It is conceivable that certain customs within the society may be neutral or even detrimental to its maintenance. We cannot assume that all of a society’s customs are functional merely because the society is functioning at the moment. And even if we are able to assess whether a particular custom is functional, this theoretical orientation fails to deal with the question of why a particular society chooses to meet its structural needs in a particular way. A given problem does not necessarily have only one solution. We still must explain why one of the possible solutions is chosen.

   結構-功能主義主張的一個主要問題是，很難確定一個特定的習俗是否真的具有有助於維持社會系統的功能。在生物學中，一個器官對動物的健康或生命的貢獻可以通過移除它來評估。但我們無法從一個社會中減去一個文化特徵，以瞭解該特徵是否真的有助於群體的維持。可以想像，社會中的某些習俗可能是中性的，甚至是不利於社會的維持。我們不能僅僅因為一個社會此刻正在運作，就認為這個社會的所有習俗都是有用的。而且，即使我們能夠評估一個特定的習俗是否具有功能性，這種理論取向也不能處理一個特定的社會為什麼選擇以特定的方式滿足其結構需求的問題。一個特定的問題不一定只有一個解決方案。我們仍然必須解釋為什麼要選擇其中一個可能的解決方案。