• Social Science – disciplines that are focused on the
study of the behavior of humans
Anthropology – is the study of human beings and their
ancestors.
• Anthropologist – a person that studies the field of
anthropology
• Political Science – is the body of knowledge relating
to the study of the state and government.
• Politics – refer to the “theory, art and practice of
government”
• Government – the institution that has the authority
to oversee a country/state; an example of a political
institution
• Legislative – make the law; made up of the Senate
(upper house) and House of
Representatives (lower house). In the Philippines, the
senate is composed of 24 senators while the house of
the representative is composed of not more than 250
members.
• Executive – passes the law; composed of President,
Vice President, and Cabinet members. In the
Philippines, the cabinet is composed of 21
departments.
• Judiciary – implements the law; composed of a Chief
Justice as a head and 14 Associate Justices.
• Sociology – is considered the science of society and
social behavior which is viewed as an aggregate of
individuals.
• Franz Boas – father of American anthropology
Auguste Comte – father of sociology
• Four fields of discipline (Anthropology)
⮚ Physical anthropology – focuses on human as a
biological organism
⮚ Cultural anthropology – investigate the contrasting
ways of groups of humans think, feel and behave
⮚ Archaeology – recovers information about the
human culture by studying material samples, skeletal
remains, and settlements
⮚ Linguistic – study the nature and nuances of
languages.
• Culture – defined as a society’s way of life
• Society – defined as an organized group of
interdependent people who share a common territory,
language and culture
• Dynamic – characterized by constant change, activity
or progress
• Flexible – ready and able to change to adapt to
different circumstances
▪ Adaptive – make suitable
▪ Socialization – learning through constant exposure
and experience to culture
• Enculturation – takes place when one culture is
spread to the other through learning.
ASPECTS OF CULTURE:
1. Dynamic, Flexible and Adaptive
- This basically means that cultures interact
and change.
2. Shared and Contested
- As we share culture with others, we are able
to act in appropriate ways as well as predict
how others will act.
3. Learning through Socialization or
enculturation
- It is not biological; we do not inherit it but
learned as we interact in society. We learn,
absorb and acquire culture from families,
peers, institutions and the media.
4. Patterned Social Interactions
- It sets the pattern in terms of what is
appropriate or inappropriate in a given setting.
Human interactions are guided by some forms
of standard and expectation which in the end
regularize it.
5. Integrated and at times unstable
- All aspects of a culture are related to one
another and to truly understand a culture, one
must learn about all of its parts not only a few.
6. Transmitted through Socialization or
enculturation
- As we share our culture with others, we were
able to pass it on to the new members of
society or the younger generation in different
ways.
7. Requires Language and other forms of
communication
– In the process of learning and transmitting
culture, we need symbols and language to
communicate with others in society. Language
is a shared set of spoken (often written)
symbols and rules for combining those
symbols in meaningful ways. Language has
been called “the storehouse of culture”.
• Superior - (from Latin super, meaning 'above')
describes what is above something
• Inferior – (from Latin inferus, meaning 'below')
describes what is below it
• Cultural Relativism – the idea that a person's beliefs,
values, and practices should be understood based on
that person's own culture, rather than be judged
against the criteria of another.
• Diversity - understanding that each individual is
unique, and recognizing our individual differences
CULTURAL RELATIVISM

It is the principle that an individual human’s beliefs

and activities should be understood by others in terms
of the individual’s own culture. It highlights the
perspective that no culture is superior to any other
culture when comparing systems of morality, law,
politics etc. it also recognizes and accepts the cultural
difference between societies.

● Ethnocentrism – the belief in the superiority of one’s

culture

● Xenocentrism – the belief in the inferiority of one’s

culture

● Symbol – anything that meaningfully represent

something

● Practices - carry out or perform (a particular activity,

method, or custom) habitually or regularly.

1. Social Construct Theory - A social construct is

something that exists not in objective reality, but as a
result of human interaction. It exists because humans
agree that it exists.

2. Symbols – A mark or character used as a

conventional representation of an object, function, or
process, e.g. the letter or letters standing for a chemical
element or a character in musical notation.

Symbolism is when something represents abstract

ideas or concepts and people recognize that it carries a
particular meaning. Everything one does throughout
their life is based and organized through cultural
symbolism. These symbols, ranging from national flags
to wedding rings to money, enter into every aspect of
culture, from social life and religion to politics and
economics.