This master's thesis aims to create an overview of Sergij Vilfan’s works and at the same time sets out to emphasise his methodology and anthropological research. The thesis begins with Vilfan’s biography and reviews the historiographical situation in Slovenia after the second world war. The next and largest part is dedicated to Vilfan’s historical anthropology of law, it’s theoretical basis and methodology. It begins by describing the beginning of Vilfan’s academic works, while revealing relevant terminology used by the sciences he participated in. Great stress is then laid upon anthropological theory and methodology, especially Vilfan’s ethnographical research. The last part of the thesis focuses on some of Vilfan’s main themes, such as his understanding of Slovenes and nations in general. Other examined recurrent themes include his understanding of social Darwinism, the evolution of peoples and the functions of customs in law and how these ideas correlate to evolutionism and functionalism. The thesis ends by noting Vilfan’s outlook on comparative research of peoples on a global scale.
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