Before symbolic anthropology came along, almost everyone innocently presumed that thoughts, words and reality were different things, and that thinking took place in the head.

Binford has spoken out and reacted to a number of schools of thought, particularly the post-processual school, the behavioural school, and symbolic and postmodern anthropologies.

Janzen rejected the notion of a solely symbolic anthropology.

In the book he synthesized the studies of cognitive and ethno-sciences with symbolic anthropology providing a holistic perspective on classification.

Mr. Schneider, regarded as a father of symbolic, or interpretive, anthropology, did some of his most important work in the classroom and the lecture hall.

Best known for his theories of culture and cultural interpretation, Mr. Geertz was considered a founder of interpretive, or symbolic, anthropology.

His special interests are thematic symbolic anthropology, cultural materialism, vernacular architecture, and social change among ethnic minorities.

His work, along with that of Clifford Geertz and others, is often referred to as symbolic and interpretive anthropology.

Gilbert Durand (1 May 1921 - 7 December 2012) was a French academic known for his work on the imaginary, symbolic anthropology and mythology.

Roy Wagner (born 1938) is a cultural anthropologist who specializes in symbolic anthropology.