CORE124 Flashcards
WHAT IS CULTURE?
Culture is a way of life; the food you eat, the clothes you wear, the language you speak in, and the god you worship are all aspects of culture.
CULTURE AFFECTS
Culture is something that affects our motivations and way of thinking.
Is culture a man-made concept?
Yes, culture is a man-made concept as it is a shared belief, values, and practices that are passed down to generations.
RAYMOND WILLIAMS
calls culture ‘one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language’.
THREE BROAD DEFINITIONS
- General process of intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic development.
- Particular way of life of a people, period, or group.
- Works and practices of intellectual and artistic activity.
CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION
CIVILIZATION — an advanced state of human society, in which a high level of culture, science, industry, and government has been reached.
CULTURE is?
CULTURE is the quality in a person of society that arises from a concern for excellence in arts, letters, manners, scholarly pursuits, etc.
CULTURE AND HERITAGE
Culture is a long process that happens throughout the history of people.
○ Many of the shared cultures we are using and experiencing right
now are primarily because our ancestors were able to survive and
pass down their attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs so that we may
also survive.
○ They are cherished, protected, and maintained.
CULTURAL VARIATION AND SOCIAL DIFFERENCES
➔ It is expected then that cultural variation and social differences are
both vast areas to explore.
➔ When we speak of variation we’re not only referring to the domestic
level, but we are speaking of the variation and differences found all
over the world.
➔ The social scientific world started to pay attention to what makes man
and society fundamentally different across the world and this was
during the 18th century or what we know as the Modern Period.
➔ Now, living in contemporary times, the focus of the social sciences on
the same issue is exacerbated with the introduction of technology and
how it has single handedly changed the way people live and interact.
What are the branches of Social Science?
- Sociology, Anthropology, and Political Science
★ Studying sociology is beneficial both for the individual and for society.
★ Studying sociology people learn how to think critically about social issues
and problems that confront our society
★ Anthropology creates a global awareness and a deep appreciation of
humanity past and present. By evaluating anthropological data, students
develop critical thinking skills.
★ All human beings are political and social animals. A bunch of
individuals clustering together is a natural phenomenon, manifesting out
of the need for cooperation and collective security.
What is SOCIAL SCIENCE?
➔ Academic disciplines dealing with the study of the social life of
groups and individuals.
➔ A branch of science that deals with the institutions and functioning
of human society and with the interpersonal relationships of
individuals as members of society.
SOCIAL :
Connecting to human society and
in what manner it is shaped.
SCIENCE:
The analysis of the biological and
environmental world by means of
logical
research and experiments.
IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL SCIENCE
By studying societies and understanding how people behave and interact, we can help to build better societies.
SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTORS ON THE BIRTH AND GROWTH OF SOCIAL SCIENCE
Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Nicolaus Copernicus, Sir Isaac Newton, Sir Francis Bacon, Rene Descartes
Socrates
Focused on asking probing, humiliating questions to learn
Plato
Believed in the immortality of the soul
Aristotle
A champion of reason and believed in avoiding extremes
Nicolaus
Copernicus
Polish scholar who proposed a heliocentric, or sun-centered,
model of the universe
Sir Isaac
Newton
Laid foundation for classical mechanics, explaining the Law
of Gravity and the Laws of Motion
Sir Francis
Bacon
Established the supremacy of reason over imagination
Rene Descartes
Human reasoning is the best road to understanding events
and discarded all traditional authorities and searched for
provable knowledge
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS
SECULARIZATION OF LITERACY AND EDUCATION
➢ From beliefs to skills.
➢ The feat of scientific method.
➢ Tradition v. Modernization
➢ Political Philosophy = Enlightenment and classical liberalism (Central
themes).
➢ Radical reformation - protestant reformation
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS
PERIOD OF ENLIGHTENMENT
➢ Age of Reason: A Celebration of Ideas
➢ Decline of the power of both the monarchies and the church.
➢ Rise of modern political ideologies.
➢ This became the primary motivation why people started to revolt.
John Locke
● Argued for liberty, religious tolerance, and rights to
life and property.
● Social Contract: Government needs to be with the
consent of the governed
Voltaire
● Best known for his work “Candide” which
epitomizes his satire and criticisms of social
conventions
Jean-Jacques
Rousseau
● Social Contract: Egalitarianism
● His ideas were influential in the French and
American revolutions.
Adam Smith
● A Scottish economist who pioneered political
economy and was a key figure during the Scottish
enlightenment.
● Father of modern economics
Immanuel
Kant
● A German Philosopher whose “Critique of Pure
Reason” sought to unite reason with experience
and move philosophy on the debate between
rationalists and empiricists
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS
PERIOD OF RATIONALIZATION
❖ Max Weber — created the concept of “rationalization of society”
❖ Rationalization: refers to the process by which modern philosophy
has increasingly concerned: Efficiency, Predictability, Calculability,
and Dehumanization
OTHER SIGNIFICANT EVENTS
● Rise of Universities
● Dissolution of Feudal Relations
● Rise of Individualism
❖ SOCIOLOGY
A branch of social sciences that uses systematic
methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop and
refine a body of knowledge about human social structure and activity.
THREE DISCIPLINES
LF Ward “Sociology is the science of society or social phenomena.”
Emile Durkheim “A science of social institutions”
Ginsberg “The study of human interaction and the interrelation of
their conditions and consequences”
DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIETY
➔ According to Auguste Comte, society developed in three stages.
1. Theological Stage
- Metaphysical Stage
- Scientific or positivist stage
PIONEER SOCIOLOGISTS
- C. WRIGHT MILLS — called the varying ways of looking at society
as Sociological Imagination.
○ a lens that examines what influences behavior, attitudes, and
culture without letting biases and preconceived ideas
influence the conclusion - NORBERT ELIAS — a German Sociologist that calls the process of
viewing social structures by studying the parts at the same time the
whole picture, Figuration
○ “Society and the people are inseparable”
FACES OF SOCIAL SCIENCE
- Harriet Martineau — First woman sociologist and first to study issues
such as marriage, children, race relations and religious and domestic
life. She is an advocate for women’s rights.
ANTHROPOLOGY
It is the study of human societies and
cultures and their development.
FIVE SUBDISCIPLINES:
- Biological Anthropology
- Archaeology
- Cultural Anthropology
- Linguistic Anthropology
- Applied Anthropology
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS
SECULARIZATION OF LITERACY AND EDUCATION, PERIOD OF ENLIGHTENMENT, PERIOD OF RATIONALIZATION
FACES OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Bronislaw Kasper
Malinowski
Franz Boas
Alfred Reginal
Radcliffe-Brown
Bronislaw Kasper
Malinowski
Father of the functionalist school of
Anthropology
Franz Boas
Father of modern anthropology and the first
person to implement the scientific method into
the study of human culture.
Alfred Reginal
Radcliffe-Brown
Developed the Theory of Structural
Functionalism
POLITICAL SCIENCE
the study of systems of government,
analysis of political activity, institutions, principles, and conduct of
government.
POLITICAL IDENTITY; PARTISAN POLITICS
refers to an individual or a group of
people who strongly supports the ideas, platforms, and policies of
their party.
POLITICAL IDENTITY;
RACE AND IDENTITY
when the Western superpowers decided
to expand their territories due to trade, power, demystification of
knowledge one of the things they brought with them was the idea that they were better than any other race and that no civilization will
match their might and supremacy.
POLITICAL IDENTITY; CLASS AND IDENTITY
the creation of different political
identities are the classes created by economic motivations.
○ As Karl Marx would refer to it as the class struggles throughout
the material history of man that has since seen the increase in the
gap of rich and poor.
MICROSOCIOLOGY VS. MACROSOCIOLOGY
Involves the study of people interactions vs. widespread social processes.
DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
● Plato and Socrates attempted to study social behavior. The problem
was that they lack systematic observations to test their speculations
against reality
● It was only until the 19th century when the field of sociology
emerged, a period when philosophers began using scientific methods.
● Two factors why philosophers were converted into sociologist: (1)
Social Upheavals and (2) Advancement of natural sciences
● The socio-political aspect was shaken.
SOCIOLOGY ENRICHMENT
Three major purposes of sociology:
1. Intellectual exercise
2. General Guide to understand lives; critical evaluation of popular
assumptions.
3. To pursue a specific career in the government — through
cross-cultural perspective, we may be able to stop seeing problems as
problems and instead, start seeing opportunities.
MODERN CENTURY PIONEERS
Auguste Comte, Harriet Martineau, Herbert Spencer, Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, Verstehen
MODERN CENTURY PIONEERS OF SOCIOLOGY
Auguste Comte
● He is called the father of sociology.
● Positivism — science is the only valid
method to explain things
● He coined the term sociology in 1838 to
refer to the scientific study of sociology.
He believes that the society goes through
three stages:
1. Religious
2. Metaphysical
3. Scientific
Harriet Martineau
● First woman sociologist
● She criticized the state of women’s
education during her time in her book
“Society in America”.
● Moreover, she also published another
book “How to observe Morals and
Manner” which talked about the need to
accept the culture of others.
Herbert Spencer ● He believed that society can be
compared to a living organism
● “The Study of Sociology”
● Supports to have a government that
controls capitalism.
Karl Marx
● Analytical Approach in class struggle.
● Marx observed the underlying conflict,
exploitation, and the seeds of revolution.
● Criticized Spencer’s theory and claimed
that it was a myth.
Emile Durkheim
● Authored “Rules of the Sociological
Method”
● Published “Suicide”, the first sociological
research.
● He argued that sociologists should
consider only what they could observe and should look at the social facts of
things.
● People’s subjective experiences = not a
concern of sociology
Max Weber
● Sociologist must go beyond what people
do Sociologist must therefore find out
what people think
● Verstehan - emphatic and understanding
of their subjects.
Socially
it inquires on human
behaviors, attitudes, and belief
systems, which range from birth practices to burial rites.
Biologically
it inquires on the
genetic composition of humans,
their relationship with other
primates, and their evolution.
ANTHROPOLOGY DEFINITION
Anthropology promotes a holistic study of humans.
SUBDISCIPLINES OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Biological, Archaeological, Linguistic, Cultural, Applied
CULTURE ASPECTS
Culture is everything
learned, shared, affects biology, adaptive, maladaptive, changes.
COMPONENTS OF CULTURE
Symbols, Values, Language, Norms, Beliefs
CULTURAL VARIATIONS
Ethnocentrism, Cultural Relativism, Xenocentrism, Racism, Biological Egalitarianism
Ethnocentrism
a perspective that promotes an individual’s culture
as the most efficient and superior. This can also be seen in the belief
that one’s set of moral codes is better than those of others.
a. Culture Shock — the feeling of disorientation experienced by
someone who is suddenly subjected to an unfamiliar culture,
way of life, or set of attitudes.
Cultural Relativism
cultures must be viewed and analyzed on their
own terms in the context of their own societal setting.
Xenocentrism
refers to the desire to engage in the elements of
another’s culture rather than one’s own.
Racism
a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the
various human racial groups determine cultural or individual
achievement, usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior
and has the right to dominate others or that a particular racial group is
inferior to the others.
Biological Egalitarianism
this perspective promotes the equality of
our biological makeup despite our ancestry.
