Antrhopology: A Social Science

“Culture comprises traditional ideas and related values, and it is the product of actions” (Kroeber and Kluckhohn, 1952); “it is learned, shared, and transmitted from one generation to the next (Linton, 1945); and it organizes life and helps interpret existence” (Gordon, 1964).

Various definitions of culture reflect differing theories for understanding or criteria for evaluating human activity. Edward Burnett Tylor writing from the perspective of social anthropology in the UK in 1871 described culture in the following way: "Culture or civilization, taken in its wide ethnographic sense, is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and

Several factors affect the formation of one’s culture, Palispis, E. (2007) quoted Sir Edward Tylor, “Culture… refers to that complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as member of society.” (Palispis, E., 2007) In this context culture is something we acquire from the people we have lived with since we were born, it is not something a person can learn overnight nor can be disposed effortlessly.

Culture is the characteristics of a group of people defined by language, cuisine, religion social habits music and art. There are many different types of culture including western culture, eastern culture, African culture and many more. Culture is influenced by the groups of people that make up the country (Zimmermann, 2012). The term culture was first used by an English Anthropologist named Edward B. Tyler. It was first mentioned in 1871 in his book named ‘Primitive Culture’. He stated that culture is "that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”. Since then culture is the main focus of anthropology.

Some may ask what it means to be a part of a specific culture. It may be believed that it merely means to share the same qualities of race, language, and social beliefs. What is not really known are the rise of expectations to fill, repressed wants and needs, or even the binding religious beliefs. A person must begin to recognize the holdings a culture may have on them and how it affects their free will as an individual.

Culture is one of the most relevant elements that can define not only a society but also a country’s cumulative beliefs and system. Often noted as the origins of a country, culture is definitive in the sense that it harbors all the elements that can provide justification on the traditions and norms set by the society for its members. More often than not, the society members follow norms in order to create a harmonious community, and the beliefs and the traditions serve as the poles or grounding rules for each member to follow. Culture is very dynamic in the way that it can change over a variety of foreign influences but what is permanent about it is that original elements about it often lingers with the influences, therefore making it multi-faceted and broad. More importantly, culture serves as an individual and unique trait each society has, and therefore sets it apart from other countries and other societies.

143). She illustrates how essential culture is to anthropology and how anthropology helps to balance culture, as well as its ties with race. She considers culture and race as opposites. “Culture is learned and can change,” (Abu-Lughod, p. 144), and race is something inborn. Although she can only depict and explain the concept of culture, and how it has become necessary and not the reasons behind it.

Spencer-Oatey (2012) suggested that, Culture is customs, ideas and social behaviour of a particular people or society. Moreover, culture is also defined by arts, and other manifestation of human intellectual achievement (Spencer-Oatey, 2012). Therefore, culture covers broad areas in our society, and culture plays an important role of development of individual’s self-awareness. Cultural self-awareness is gained from birth by developing knowledge by experience, outcome, and the behaviour that seem to form the cultural self-awareness of individuals and makes the whole culture.

Jonathan Turner Mr. Grosh Ant-160 5/27/2013 Exam 1.1 In many anthropological studies, the scientists attempt to define a culture that is unknown to society. They go in and find people that are considered “other.” They pick apart and analyze everything that they find. All of the articles we have read and discussed in class do this. In this paper, I will show you how the directors and anthropologists do this.

Culture is one of the major influences on our lives and social interactions; culture is associated with our characteristics of religion, societal norms of behavior; moreover, culture is always changing and the influence increases. With every religion there are traditions and cultures that are a form of art as it involves many characteristics’ of individuals and their beliefs, values, and perspective, for this reason, there are various dynamics in terms of how culture is involved and the influence of our actions, such as media, peers, family, and socializations. Culture is a factor of social environment and what is modeled to us in our early years of development.

Cultural Background Paper Natesha C. Robinson SCO/100 May 5th, 2010 Leslie Hart University of Phoenix Cultural Background Culture is the totality of learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects, and behavior. It includes ideas, values, and artifacts of groups of people (Schaefer, 2006). Understanding culture can be tricky, ever ask “why do people act the way they do?”, “what made me do that”, “what was I thinking?” Physical abilities, educational background, and social background of how I was raised are important aspects of my life. The environment in which I was raised is very important aspect of my life.

The term culture is described as ‘a verb’. However it is explained that culture is difficult to define as it can be associated in different ways by different people. Some people think of culture as a thing while others term it as a set of beliefs,

REFLECTIVE ESSAY: BEING A VIETNAMESE It is not easy to define culture because culture is too broad a concept, can be both abstract and specific. However, what is agreed is culture covers all faces of our life as well as direct the way we behave, interact and communicate. (Liu et al.,

2.The external analysis of China 2.1 A brief introduction of Chinese market 2.1.1 The total market .China is one of the largest consumer markets in the world. At the end of 2013, China has a GDP of $9.24 trillion , increase7.7% over the end of

Vishan Neupane Professor Ritu Khanduri ANTH 2322-002 1 December 2017 Ethics, fieldwork and anthropology Anthropology is a worldwide discipline which involve social institution, humanities and natural sciences. Cultural anthropology studies the contemporary human cultures and shows how social behavior are formed and how they shape the world around them. Anthropological researchers always have ethical obligations,