CULTURE

MEANING OF CULTURE

• Culture is a crucial concept in social science, used in Psychology, Political Science, Economics, Anthropology, and Sociology.
• The study of society is incomplete without understanding its culture. Culture and society are inseparable and go together.
• Culture is unique to man and distinguishes human society from sub-human life.
• Unlike animals, humans are born and raised in a cultural environment. The saying “Man is a social being” can be redefined as “Man is a cultural being.”
• Every person is a representative of their culture, which separates humans from lower animals.
• Culture encompasses all aspects of life: behavior, philosophies, ethics, morals, manners, customs, traditions, religious, political, and economic activities.
• Culture includes everything that humans acquire through individual and social life. MacIver and Page define culture as “the realm of styles, values, emotional attachments, and intellectual adventures.”
• Culture is the entire social heritage that an individual inherits from the group.
• The term culture is often misunderstood or misused in non-sociological contexts.
• Culture is sometimes wrongly equated with education, where an educated person is termed “cultured,” and uneducated individuals are labeled “uncultured.”
• In sociology, culture does not mean personal refinement or education.
• Historians often define culture in terms of “higher achievements” like art, music, literature, philosophy, religion, and science, which sociologists do not.
• Sociologists view culture as encompassing all achievements of group life, not just the “higher” achievements.
• Culture and nationality are not always synonymous; people within the same nationality may have diverse cultural traits.
• B. Malinowski defines culture as the “cumulative creation of man” and the medium through which man achieves his ends.
• Graham Wallas sees culture as an accumulation of thoughts, values, and objects passed down through learning from preceding generations, contrasting it with biological heritage.
• C.C. North defines culture as “instruments created by man to assist in satisfying his wants.”
• Robert Bierstedt describes culture as the complex whole that consists of all the ways we think, do, and have as members of society.
• E.V. de Roberty regards culture as the body of thoughts and knowledge, both theoretical and practical, unique to man.
• Edward B. Tylor, a famous anthropologist, defines culture as “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.” Tylor’s definition is widely quoted today.

CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE

• Culture is learnt socially, not inherited biologically. It is not an inborn instinct but learned through social interaction.
• Unlearned behaviors like blinking or sleeping are physiological, not cultural, while actions like shaking hands or dressing are cultural behaviors.
• Culture is social, meaning it originates and develops through social interactions and is shared by members of society.
• No individual can acquire culture without association with others. Man becomes man only in society.
• Culture is shared by the members of a society, including customs, traditions, beliefs, values, and moral principles.
• Achievements such as inventions, literary works, and artistic creations are part of shared culture, accessible to large groups.
• Culture is transmissive, meaning it is passed from one generation to the next through language, not genetics.
• Language is the main vehicle for transmitting culture, allowing current generations to understand past achievements.
• Culture is continuous and cumulative, evolving over time and accumulating the achievements of past and present generations.
• Culture is a “growing whole” that flows through generations, creating the social heritage of mankind.
• Culture is consistent and integrated, with different parts (e.g., values, morality, religion) interconnected and coherent.
• Culture is dynamic and adaptive, subject to change in response to evolving conditions and adapting to the natural environment.
• Culture provides means to satisfy both biological (food, shelter) and social needs (status, fame, money).
• Culture varies from society to society and from time to time. Different societies have unique cultures, and cultures evolve with time.
• Culture is superorganic and ideational, meaning it exists above biological or physical properties. It gives social meaning to objects and acts.
• The social meaning of objects (e.g., a national flag) or roles (e.g., professors, priests) is defined by culture.
• Every society sees its culture as an ideal, something to be valued and proud of, making culture intrinsically important to its people.
• Culture is distinct from society: society is a group of people interacting based on shared beliefs, customs, and values, while culture is the system of learned responses that define the behavior of that society.
• As Laph Linton states, society is an organized group of individuals, while culture is the pattern of their behavior.
• Culture is the cement binding society together by regulating the behavior of its individuals, as Gillin and Gillin explain.