Symbolic anthropology follows a literary basis instead of an empirical one meaning there is less of a concern with objects of science such as mathematics or logic, instead of focusing on tools like psychology and literature.
[2] Prominent figures in symbolic anthropology include Clifford Geertz, David M. Schneider, Victor Turner and Mary Douglas.
The purpose of symbolic and interpretive anthropology can be described through a term used often by Geertz that originated from Gilbert Ryle, "Thick Description."
His model suggests that there are four phases to any conflictive interaction 1 - Breach; 2 - Crisis; 3 - Redress; 4 - Reintegration; each of these can describe the sequence of events that occurs from a drama in any given social relation.
There was early hesitation among major figures to integrate the two fields, despite clear overlap in thought, such as Durkheim's and Jung's indirect influence on some of each other's theories.
Some dismiss the connection between these two fields, believing that symbolic anthropology cannot be condensed down into psychology in any way, or that culture alone determines behavior, disregarding the role the individual psyche plays in collective traits expressed through thick description.