Popular uses of the word "culture" vs. social science uses
First Anthropological Definition of Culture:
E. B. Tylor, 1871 from Primitive Culture
"Culture or civilization, taken in its wide, ethnographic
sense, is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, morals,
law, custom and any other habits and capabilities acquired by man
as a member of society."
Emphasized terms indicate major approaches to the definitions used by
anthropologists as outlined by Kroeber and Kluckhohn: Culture: A Critical
Review of Concepts and Definition.
Four traditional views of culture:
1. Culture is the difference between humans and
animals.
Anthropocentric
Tools using versus tool making
Jane Goodall's chimpanzee studies In the Shadow of Man (studies in the
1960s, publication in 1971)
Algebraic mentality
Opposable thumb
Power Grip vs. Precision Grip
Humans are the only animals to make and use tools as their primary means of
adapting to the environment
2. Culture is learned behavior.
Imitative learning
Other learning-language
Wolf or wild children
Signs vs symbols
Culture is an artificially created reality
3. Society carries culture.
Society-an interacting group of organisms of the same species
Society is the repository for culture-language is crucial
Society's members participate in it
Society & Culture outlast the individual
Society and Culture are the dominant determinant of social behavior
a. Stereotypes
b. Modal personalities
c. National character
4. Culture is patterned behavior
Functional prerequisites of culture
More recent concerns since Kroeber and Kluckhohn's book
1. Adaptive nature of culture
2. Culture is dynamic, in a constant state of change.
Generally recognized as the study of man/humans-incredibly wide-ranging
Only about 150 years old as a field.
Relatively few are acquainted with it except for major figures: Mead, Leakeys, Benedict, others
Linked to the idea of culture
Pop definitions of culture are pervasive, but anthro definition is much more inclusive
Description (ethnography)
Comparison (ethnology)
Explanation
Leads to questions of what is or is not natural among humans?
Most anthropologists accept that there are some basic human natural behaviors-a hard wiring-but that these are so overlain by cultural behaviors it is hard to tell what is natural.
The task of anthropology are the same as any science, but we also deal with human values-makes anthropology one of the humanities as well as a social science
Anthropological Linguistics
Language as a foundation for culture
What you can tell about a culture by use of language
Variations of symbolic communication-body language
Archaeology
Studies the evolution/change/development of human culture through time
Problems of time
Problems of preservation
Problems of ethnographic analogy
Cultural Anthropology
Examines living cultures and all their variety
Physical or biological anthropology
Looks at the biological underpinnings of culture
1. Humans are just plain interesting.
Dangers: using the practices of another culture to justify your own cultural practices-Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism introduced as key concepts
2. Humanistic reasons
If we know what others do and why, we will be less likely to rush to judgment about them.
3. Scientific reasons
If you can predict how culture works, then you can change it to make the world better.
Dangers: Who gets to make the decisions?