ASPECT OF

CULTURE
DYNAMIC, FLEXIBLE AND ADAPTIVE

Culture changes constantly throughout the time.

It varies on the societal structure and the
capacities of its members to respond
 Shared & Contested
Culture through its elements is enjoyed by group of
people who lived together. It also allows its
members to predict the behavior of other members
but it is no assurance that they will think and act
similarly.
Learned through socialization or
enculturation
Culture is learned with practice through
continued process. It is a lifelong process in
which social interaction plays a vital role.
Transmitted through socialization
Patterned social interactions

Culture creates patterned behavior and social

interactions that can be transmitted through
socialization and enculturation.
Integrated and at times unstable

Culture to be always functioning must maintain

its components integrated. Language must have
all its idea and ideals intact for the successful
transmission from one person to another
 Requires language and other
forms of communication
Culture will be successfully transmitted if it uses
language and other forms of communication
TYPES OF CULTURE
 ELEMENTS OF CULTURE
ELEMENTS DEFINITION
FORMAL NORMS
NORMS
MORES – they are norms that have a firm control to moral and ethical behavior
LAWS - they are ordinance of reason enacted to protect the people from the bad effects of outdated
mores

INFORMAL MORES
FOLKWAYS or COSTUMES - they are behaviors of less importance yet still influence our behavior.

SYMBOL These are anything that carry a meaning recognized by people who share a culture

VALUES These are culturally defined standards by which people assess desirability, goodness, and beauty and
that serve as broad guidelines for social living

These are specific statements that people hold to be true.

BELIEFS
LANGUAGE It refers to a form of communication using words either spoken or gestured with the hands and
structured with grammar, often with a writing system.

TABOOS These are norms that are crucial to a society’s moral center, involving behaviors that are always
negatively sanctioned
 Theoretical
Perspectives on
Society
 Herbert Spencer
(1820-1903)
described the emerging
societies as societies of
survival and primarily based
on the concept of natural law.
 Karl Marx (1818-
1883)
There is always struggle
between the workers and the
capitalist due to the
exploitation of the latter to the
former which is essential in
provoking social change.
 Emile Durkheim
(1858-1917)
said that society is composed
of harmonious elements such
as individuals, organizations,
and social institutions.
 George Herbert Mead
(1863–1931)
society can be seen in a micro-
level that focuses on the
relationships of individuals
within a society primarily
centers in their communication
both language and symbols.
Charles Horton-Cooley
(1902)
He theorized the concept of
the looking glass self.
According to this, self-relation,
or how one views oneself is not
an isolated event but rather
includes others.
Morris Ginsberg (1921)
Society is a group of
individuals bonded by specific
relation or manner of behavior
which tend to differ them from
individuals who have a
different set of patterned
behavior.
Franklin Giddings (1922)
society is a unified itself, the
organization, and the totality
of formal relations in which
interacting humans are
guaranteed together.
Perspective on
Culture
 Matthew Arnold
(1867)
culture or high culture as
opposed to popular culture is
a product of a special
intellectual or artistic
endeavor humans had
invented.
Kroeber & Kluckhohn (1952)
culture is composed of behavior acquired and
transmitted through symbols. It is a human group
that includes their distinctive achievements and
embodiment in artifacts, traditional and historical
ideas, and formation of values.
 LESSON 3:
ETHNOCENTRISM
AND CULTURAL
RELATIVISM
 ETHNOCENTRISM
view that one’s own cultural elements such as norms,
values, ideology, customs, and traditions are dominant
and superior to others

➢ William Graham Sumner (1906)

- coined the term ethnocentrism in his work
Folkways that served as the foundation in
social analysis of every culture.
Sumner mentioned some characteristics of an individual with an ethnocentric
view.

Ethnocentric persons –
❑ have a dominant cultural element which they see as superior to other cultures;
❑ view rigidly their own socio-economic, political, and cultural elements;
❑ see their cultural elements as normal and acceptable to all;
❑ consider in-group norms can be universalized; discard out-group ethnicities
and cultures;
❑ believe that other cultures are inferior; and
❑ look at other culture’s elements as inferior and unacceptable
Chinof (2016) made some observations on how to
address this growing concern on Filipino ethnocentrism.

❑ Identify indigenous culture that truly reflects Filipino

identity.
❑ Eliminate foreign influences and stick to “home-grown"
practices.
❑ If we want to settle our identity, we must accept the
good part of the foreign influences that come to us.
CULTURAL RELATIVISM
refers to an objective analysis of one’s own culture –
seeing and understanding of one’s beliefs and traditions
from his/her own point of view.
According to James Rachels (2003), the following claims have all
been made by cultural relativists:
❑ Each society has a diverse set of moral conducts.

❑ The rightfulness of an action within a society is primarily determined

by the moral standards of that society.

❑ There is no objective standard that can be used as a basis of

comparison among societies.

❑ The moral code of our own society is just part of a larger body of

morality and ethical standards.

❑ High tolerance among all culture must be exercised always
However, in his critical analysis, he also posited some observations
and consequences of accepting cultural relativism.

❑ It is difficult to determine if the custom of other societies is

morally inferior to others.
❑ The decision whether actions are right or wrong can be done
just by consulting the standards of our society.
❑ The idea of moral progress is always questionable.
❑ The objective criticism of one’s own culture is shallow.
❑ There will be no idea of moral progress because of acceptance
of other’s culture