ART AND

ANTHROPOLOGY-
CULTURAL
RELATIVISM

GROUP 3
Drag & Drop or Insert your picture here CULTURAL RELATIVISM in
AESTHETICS
JEAN JACQUES ROUSSSEAU
(1712-1788)
Placeholder Title 01
Theory on the origin of society.
- Social Contract
 SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY

STATE OF NATURE

SAVAGERY

SOCIETY
Civilization
CULTURE, TRADITION, LAW CUSTOM AND CONVENTION

JUDGEMENT OF MORALITY

PERCEPTION AND CONCEPT OF BEAUTY

FRANZ BOAS (1848-1942)
Placeholder Title 07
CULTURAL RELATIVISM AND HISTORICAL PARTICULARISM

• Reject Comparative Approach in Anthropology

• Favors Inductive Method: “Collect data first, theorize later.”

• Reject Cultural Evolutionism

• Asserts that culture not race determines behavior.

• The elements of culture has its own unique, distinctive history: No

one, universal culture for all people at all times, but each culture for
each society.
• Cultural forms that may look familiar are actually far from identical
because their different histories.
• Avoid value judgement in Ethics and Aesthetics
• “ The art and characteristic styles of every people can be understood by
studying its production as a whole independent of those of other people.”
IN AESTHETICS

CULTURE – People in the Society

Perception, conception of BEAUTY

“Beauty is on the (culturally conditioned) eye of the beholder.”

CULTURE, BEAUTY,
AND THE FEMALE
BODY
CULTURAL STANDARD OF THE BEAUTY OF WOMEN
SOCIETY OF THE SURI PEOPLE IN AFRICA

MURSI WOMAN the plate on her lower

lip determines her beauty and acceptance in her
society.
CULTURAL STANDARD OF THE BEAUTY OF WOMEN
SOCIETY OF THE PADAUNG PEOPLE MYANMAR

PADAUNG WOMAN the long neck

with spiral rings determines her beauty and
acceptance in the society
SOCIETY OF CHINISE PEOPLE CHINA BEFORE
1917

FOOT BINDING TRADITION

IN CHINA (traditional Chinese Women with
Lotus Feet)
LOTUS FEET of the Chinese women determine beauty
BUDS OF THE LOTUS FLOWER
• Beginning of Foot Binding in 800 BC.
• The legend of the court dancers and the emperor’s wife with feet like
Golden Lotus ( 4 inches)
THE MODERN LOTUS FEET
“TIIS GANDA”
THE ART OF PLEASURE IN
HINDU CULTURE AND
RELIGION
BASIC CONCEPT IN HINDU LIFE AND RELIGION

• 2 Laws of Life
• - SAMSARA – reincarnation
• - KARMA – cause and effect

• 4 Goals of Life
• - DHARMA – Duty in family and society
• - ARTHA- Accumulation of wealth and power
• - KAMA – Experience if pleasure
• - MOKSHA- Spiritual release
HINDU WORLDWIDE & WAY OF LIFE

• SELF - REALIZATION STAGES OF LIFE

Reality Bhraman Spiritual Release (Moksha)
-Illusion WANDERING BEGGAR
- Maya HERMIT: Solitude, Yoga Meditation

Householder:
Family & Society (Dharma)
Samsara Wealth & Power (Artha)
Karma Pleasure (Kama)
Pupil: Studies
5 SHEETS

• REAL: Atman= Bhraman

• Intellectual: Mind
• Psychological : Emotion
• Perceptual: Senses
• Physical: Body
KAMA SUTRA, 400-200 BC
Compiled by Vatsyayana 200Ad

• SANSKRIT kama: “desire” or “pleasure”

• SUTRA: “string” or “thread,” metaphorically “a collection of
aphorisms that form a manual or text”

• ART OF PLEASURE
• The experience of pleasure (kama) is one of the four aims of Hindu
life necessary for a person to attain spiritual release (moksha).
ANEKAPARIGRAHA ( Sacred Prostitute)

• Fulfills men’s experience of pleasure, therefore, helping them to attain

spiritual release.
JAPANESE TRADITIONAL PROFESSIONAL WOMAN ENTERRTAINER

HENTAI- Japanese images and cartoons showing sexual activities

HOKUSAI THE PILLOW BOOK
AESTHETIC RELATIVISM IN
POPULAR CULTURE
Leonardo, lady with an ermine
Vermeer, Girl with a Pearl Earing
Modern Standard

Amorsolo, Girl with a basket of

Mango (Detail), 1956
EYEBROW OF THE MODERN WOMEN
•FASHION OF CLOTHING THROUGH
THE DECADES
1880’s FRENCH FASHION
FASHION OF CLOTHING IN
THE PHILIPPINES DURING
THE SPANISH PERIOD
BATOK: The Art of the Tattoo