How did Johann Gottfried von Herder's cultural relativism affect the study of different peoples?

Johann Gottfried von Herder’s concept of cultural relativism fundamentally transformed the study of different peoples by rejecting the Enlightenment tendency to grade cultures based on their proximity to a single standard of rationality. Instead, Herder posited that each culture possesses a distinct collective identity, or Volksseele ("ethnic soul"), which must be understood and judged within its own unique context.12

His approach had several profound effects on the study of humanity:

• Shift in Historical Focus: Herder redirected the attention of historians away from traditional political and diplomatic narratives toward social, cultural, and intellectual history.1
• Valuing Diversity: He resisted the notion that any Volk (people) or historical age was inferior to another, elevating the admiration for "primitive" cultures and their oral traditions.12
• Language as Identity: Herder argued that a culture’s language contains its entire world of tradition, religion, and principles of existence. Consequently, he legitimized the study of folk literature as a vital expression of a people's soul.12
• Methodological Insight: He emphasized that the spiritual development of a people cannot be discerned through purely rational processes alone; rather, it requires an act of historical imagination and insight to grasp how a culture's art relates to its social institutions.1

By championing these particularist perspectives over universalism, Herder became a foundational figure in the development of Romanticism and significantly influenced the trajectory of cultural anthropology.13