Understanding Culture, Society,

and Politics
Lesson 1: Definition, Theories,
Concepts, and Philosophies
Part 2

Presented by: Leonides B. Suing

Understanding
UnderstandingCulture,
Culture,Society,
Society,and
andPolitics
Politics

Other elements of Understanding Culture,

Society, and Politics:
Gender – is the socially constructed
characteristics of being male or female. It refers
to society’s division of humanity into two
distinctive categories based on sex.
Socioeconomic Status – refers to the
category of persons who have more or less the
same socioeconomic privileges in a society.
Understanding
UnderstandingCulture,
Culture,Society,
Society,and
andPolitics
Politics

In the Philippines, three types of social class are identified:

u upper class consists of elite families.
u middle class with income sufficient enough to provide a
comfortable and decent living.
u The lower class depends on subsistence.
Understanding
UnderstandingCulture,
Culture,Society,
Society,and
andPolitics
Politics

Other elements of Understanding

Culture, Society, and Politics:
Ethnicity – is the expression of the set of
cultural ideas held by a distinct ethnic or
indigenous group.
Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics

Based on the 2000 census of the

National Statistics Office (NSO), now
Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA),
the eight major ethno-linguistic groups
in the Philippines, distributed in
percentage of population:
①  Tagalog (28.1%)
②  Cebuano (13.1%)
③  Ilocano (9%)
④  Bisaya/Binisaya 7.6%
⑤  Ilonggo/Hiligaynon 7.5%
⑥  Waray (3.4%)
⑦  Others (25.3%)
Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics

Religion – is an organized system of ideas

about the spiritual sphere or the supernatural,
along with the associated ceremonial or
ritualistic practices by which people try to
interpret and/or influence aspects of the
universe otherwise beyond human control.
Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics

Exceptionality – refers to
the state of being
intellectually gifted and/or
having physically or mentally
challenged conditions.
Nationality – is the legal
relationship that binds a
person and a country. It
allows the state to protect
and have jurisdiction over a
person.
Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics

Historical Background and Growth of Social

Sciences: Foundation, Development, and Future
u The term "social science" first appeared in the
1824 book An Inquiry into the Principles of the
Distribution of Wealth Most Conducive to
Human Happiness by William Thompson
(1775–1833).
u Since the mid-twentieth century, the term "social
science" has come to refer generally to all those
disciplines; from anthropology to linguistics to
media studies.
Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics

Ancient times
u Aristotle studied planetary
motion and poetry with the
s a m e m e t h o d s ,
and Plato mixed geometrical
proofs with his demonstration
on the state of intrinsic
knowledge.
u  Only with the development of
mathematical proof did there
gradually arise a perceived
difference between "scientific"
disciplines and others, the
"humanities" or the liberal
arts.
Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics
Medieval times
u Thomas Aquinas developed ideas about man and
society that contain political, social, economic,
anthropological, and geographical conceptions.
u  T h e S c h o l a s t i c s , r e m a i n e d s t r o n g u n t i l
the Enlightenment, leaving no room for the development
of ideas regarding human nature that were separate from
theology.
European enlightenment
u The Age of Enlightenment advocated reason as a means
to allow human beings to obtain objective truth about the
w h o l e o f r e a l i t y, f r e e i n g h u m a n k i n d
from superstition and religious belief.
Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics

Development:
u  A u g u s t e
Comte (1798-1857)
was the first to apply the
scientific method to the
social world, and coined
the term "sociology" to
describe the scientific
study of human society.
Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics

u A n o t h e r c o u r s e w a s
initiated by Émile
Durkheim, studying
"social facts." A third,
championed by figures
such as Max Weber,
developed in which social
phenomena were
identified with and
understood.
Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics

u In the first half of the twentieth century, statistics

became a free-standing discipline of applied
mathematics. Statistical methods were used
confidently.
u The Industrial Revolution created a series of
social, economic, and political problems.
Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics

Future
u The social sciences are still relatively new, for if their
purpose is to improve society, how is this to be
accomplished?
u Funding and support for social scientific research comes
from the government and social structures within society
it may be difficult for social scientists to separate
themselves from the status quo and suggest and
implement changes to those very institutions from which
they derive support.