Lesson Description:

In this module, the students will learn more about culture and society using the perspectives of anthropology
and sociology.

Course Objectives:
By the end of this course, learners are expected to

 Explain anthropological and sociological perspectives on culture and society;

 Describe society and culture as a complex whole; and
 Become aware of why and how cultural relativism mitigates ethnocentrism.

Society and Culture

Simply, society refers to a group of people sharing a common culture. It may also be
defined as an organized group or groups of people who generally share a common
territory, language, culture, and who act together for collective survival and well-
being. The ways in which people depend upon one another can be seen in the features
of their society, such as their economic, communication, and defense system. They
are also bound together by a sense of common identity (Haivland, et. al.:312).
Although culture and society are interrelated, these concepts are not exactly the
same. 

Society has a more comprehensive set of cultures in the sense that the group is culturally self-sufficient. This
means that diverse cultures exist in a specific society. A society, for instance, may engage in trade with other
societies and yet the cultural patterns involved in this trade relation are an integral part of a culture of the
society itself. In most cases, people's entire set of social interaction occurs within society. All social systems
have vitally important connections with societies, either as part of them or as a system cutting across societies
but dependent upon them (Dash: 42-43). Human society is characterized by a territorially localized population;
the members of which interact in a network of relationships, which are distinctive, culturally defined, and
limited, and effectively bonded by common linguistic patterns and other formats of symbolic representations
(Dash:42).

 Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5K34Vr8Xsk&feature=emb_title

Society arises only when individuals are knit together in a network of mutual
stimulus and response. In other words, society exists when social beings behave
toward each other in ways determined by their recognition of one another. The most
important characteristic that distinguishes human from non-human societies lies in
the specific ways in people strive to meet their basic needs. They meet these needs
for social survival primarily through learned behavior, which is invented, generally
agreed upon, and transmitted through various mediums of communication; the most prominent of which is the
use of language. In general, culture develops as a response to a society's conditions and immediate solutions to
the problems of individuals and groups.

Culture is "the complex whole which encompasses beliefs, practices, values, attitudes, laws, norms, artifacts,
symbols, knowledge and everything that a person learns and shares as a member of society" (Tylor 1920
[1871]). This set of behavior and the fact that humans are characterized by them by virtue of being born as
"human beings" apart from other creatures in the animal kingdom suggests the universal nature of the concept.
They are behaviors that people possess which other primates do not. As John Honigmann, an anthropologist has
pointed out there are three components that go together to make up culture: ideas, activities, and artifacts. Ideas
are thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and rules. Examples of ideas are an aversion to incest, the Holy Spirit, and food-
sharing among relatives. Ideas also include ways on how to make things, abstract concepts such as love, peace,
and happiness, and the Decalogue of Conduct, which is also known as the Ten Commandments. Ideas may be
directly part of some behavior, the underlying cause, or even by-products of it.

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2Bj8OCmxb4&feature=emb_title

Activities, on the one hand, are the dynamic components of culture. It is what people do as oppose to what they
believe or feel. Such may include the act of punishing incestuous behavior, sacrifice in religion, and the
celebration of Christmas and other religious holidays. Finally, artifacts are man-made products of ideas and
activities: the knife that kills the incestuous pair, the altar for sacrifice, the pot that contains the meat for the
feast, and even the meat is taken from a domestic animal (Collins: 204).
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57KW6RO8Rcs&feature=emb_title

Culture as a concept has been defined in many ways. in capsule form, culture may be defined as the complex
whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, moral, law, custom, and other capabilities and habits acquired,
shared, and transmitted by man through interaction within a social group (Taylor:1).

In fact, Taylor attempted to demonstrate that culture evolved from simple to complex. Thus, it is possible to
reconstruct the simple beginnings of culture by the study of surviving vestiges of the past such as those
considered by the West as "primitive" and "backward" but in reality, possessing the nuances and wisdom of
homegrown indigenous knowledge systems. 

According to Taylor, culture is learned, shared, and symbolic. It is learned from parents, peers, teachers,
leaders, and others. Culture is not biological or genetic; any person can acquire any person's culture (Kelly and
Thomas: 19). Somebody who can recite Rizal's "Mi Ultimo Adios" and listens to Beethoven is no more cultural
than one who reads Wattpad stories and prefers Gloc-9.

Culture is also shared. Although each person is endowed with a critical mind to
understanding things as well as cultivate his or her own values and worldviews,
members of the human groups also share some basic ideas about the world and their
place in it. Many western homes, for instance, are divided into multiple rooms,
including a living room, a small kitchen, a family room, and bedrooms. This pattern
is considered normal and comfortable by most Westerners (Kelly and Thomas: 19).
However, some ethnic groups in Southeast Asia, particularly the Ede tribe of Vietnam, prefer to stay in a 42-
meter-long house that can accommodate the families of daughters and granddaughters of an extended
matrilineal family without sacrificing the idea of the politics of space (VME Brochure).

Lastly, culture is symbolic. This is often manifested in language, wherein meanings are
socially constructed. In Ellen Rudolf’s study of the Japanese language culture, she
found out that men and women used language very differently. Both sexes are
expected to be polite, but women must be more polite than men. However, the scenario
is reversed in business and government, as more women now are highly educated and
occupying more powerful positions in commerce and government than men (Whitten
and Hunter; 139). 

Aspects of Culture

Culture provides important social and economic benefits. With improved learning
and health, increased tolerance, and opportunities to come together with others,
culture enhances our quality of life and increases overall well-being for both
individuals and communities.

For us to see the importance and the function of culture in society, a very careful
study of its characteristics is needed. Below are some of the major characteristics of culture:

 Culture is dynamic, flexible, and adaptive;

 It is shared and contested;
 It is learned through socialization and enculturation
 It is composed of patterned social interactions, integrated and, at times, unstable;
 It is transmitted through socialization or enculturation; and
 It requires language and other forms of communication.

CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNJZy7L0Tzs&feature=emb_title

1. Culture is dynamic, flexible, and adaptive

Cultural behaviors allow people to fit into and adapt to their respective environments. For instance, people wear
clothes to protect their bodies from the harsh climate. In contemporary societies, where culture is highly
developed, people can even fit their environment to their daily needs; for example, building temperate houses in
tropical regions or constructing an ice amusement park in countries like the Philippines. 

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLRP7a9PqII&feature=emb_title

The cumulative and social nature of human ideas, activities, and artifacts gives a tremendous potential source of
variability in adaptation. It permits people to specialize in short-run activities. It also allows people to maintain
universal and generalized affairs like settling permanently on places where jobs are generally available and the
locality is safe for residence, and further improvement of one’s self. People can also borrow such potential from
other groups if their cultural behaviors are found to have survival value. This means that some cultures through
experience have developed diverse ways of adapting to their environment. 

2. Culture is shared and contested

This concept means that various members of a society or group commonly share ideas, activities, and artifacts.
Hence, the behavior of people in a group or society often becomes socially and conventionally standardized in
form and manner. 

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXXqbmLph8Q&feature=emb_title

Shared culture provides order and meaning in interpreting behavioral patterns of individuals in a society. In this
sense, cultural behaviors are considered a “team player” phenomenon that creates shared expectations and
results. From a sociological perspective, people do not only interact together to share a common culture but also
to validate it. 

3. Culture is learned through socialization and enculturation

Behavior patterns that constitute a specific culture are not genetically or biologically determined. Every person
has the potential to learn any culture as he or she grows and survives the various stages of life.

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcplZJbWYwE&feature=emb_title

Through the process of socialization or enculturation, a person eventually acquires the prevailing attitudes and
beliefs, the forms of behavior appropriate to the social roles he or she occupies, and the behavior patterns and
values of the society into which he or she is born. Because culture is learned rather than transmitted
biologically, it is sometimes called man’s social heritage.

4. Culture is composed of patterned social interactions

Social interaction, as commonly viewed, implies theories of reciprocity, complementarity, and mutuality of
response. For example, A question implies an answer. A statement implies the acknowledgment of
communication. A hostile act is countered or allayed. These samples simply illustrate primary patterns of social
integration.

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sGZ9z9eZHo&feature=emb_title

Patterns of social interaction may be viewed as (a) inherent characteristics of the participants merely given the
opportunity to be exposed (the subject is willing or volunteers to interact); (b) or as “emergent” in the sense that
they arise in the interaction as a product (the subject interacts because of the introduction of stimuli to respond). 

5. Culture is integrated and at times unstable

For a society or group, ideas, activities, and artifacts are not only shared; their arrangement more or less fits
together and interlock to form a consistent whole. For example, technology and its relation to social and
political patterns. 

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyQ-Y8cC-ZY&feature=emb_title

The tools available, which include preconditioned impulses and preconceived ideas or notions, the social
behaviors associated with their use, concepts of ownership, concepts of leadership, and even religion must to
some degree be interrelated if the whole culture is to be effective. Simply, preconditioned impulses and
preconceived ideas are by-products of man’s interaction with his or her society. Preconditioned impulses and
preconceived ideas also help determine social behavior patterns. Although integration is never complete,
changes in some aspects of culture generally necessitate changes in other areas.

6. Culture is transmitted through socialization or enculturation

Acquired through learning, cultural ideas, activities, and artifacts are handed down from generation to
generation as a super organic inheritance, which means it is inherently passed on through generations. For
instance, epic chanting as a super organic inheritance is passed on to the next generation of chanters through
teaching the craft to younger ones. 

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrWPSP35gUk&feature=emb_title

Some forms of cultural ideas, activities, and artifacts are also acquired through social learning—by imitating the
actions of others—and through communication and language. Language is considered the most important part,
“the soul,” of culture.

7. Culture requires language and other forms of communication

Language is a shared set of spoken (often written) symbols and rules used in meaningful ways. Language has
been called “the storehouse of culture.” It is the primary means of capturing, communicating, discussing,
changing, and passing shared understandings to new generations (and new citizens). 

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiJ8-2hAqm4&feature=emb_title

Language is the most important means of cultural transmission, the process by which one generation passes
culture to the next. Through the unique power of language, people gain access to centuries of accumulated
wisdom. Aside from language, much of human behavior involves symbols or non-verbal forms, such as signs,
sounds, emblems, and other things that are linked to something or someone else and represented in meaningful
ways. These symbols, ranging from national flags to wedding rings to money, enter into every aspect of culture,
from social life and religion to politics and economics.

Definition and Scope of Anthropology

Anthropology is considered the father, or even grandfather, of all social and behavioral sciences like sociology,
economics, and psychology, to name a few. 

Anthropology is derived from two Greek words, Anthropos and logos, which intensively study humans and the
respective cultures where they were born and actively belong to.

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5aglbgTEig&feature=emb_title

Anthropology is considered the father, or even grandfather, of all social and behavioral sciences like sociology,
economics, and psychology, to name a few. This discipline had its humble beginnings with early European
explorers and their accounts, which produced initial impressions about the native peoples they encountered in
their explorations.

The shift to the New World or North America raised the disciplines to a higher level, when some European
migrant scholars, hailing from England and Germany, brought their expertise and knowledge, primarily
focusing on new settlements and ethnic minorities, including native American-Indian tribes. 

Franz Boas

The Father of American Anthropology, Franz Boas, who initially obtained a college degree
in physics, strongly believed that the same method and strategy could be applied in
measuring culture and human behavior while conducting research among humans, including
the uniqueness of their cultures.

Alfred Henry William Henry Morgan

Two early American anthropologists, Alfred Kroeber and William Henry Morgan became prominent in the
field since their specialization included the championing of indigenous rights, like traditional cultural
preservation and ancestral domain of the American Indian tribes they intensively studied.

HISTORICAL BEGINNINGS

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNOw1hG7k_o&feature=emb_title

Ruth Benedict

American anthropology gradually generated social and cultural interests in the fields of
folklore and native sexual practices. One anthropologist was Ruth Benedict, who was a
student of Franz Boas, the founder of American Anthropology. 

Ruth Benedict became a specialist in anthropology and folklore and authored one of the three
famous books utilized in the academic league of Margaret Mead, who was very much
described in the academic native populations. Such views gave rise to a relatively new liberal
view on cans that were still labeled as conventional and conservative.

Bronislaw Malinowski

In any case, the field of anthropology offers several topics for relevant research and
discussion in various academic fields, since its distinct way of data-gathering from their
respondents applies participant observation, which is central of ethnography or the
ethnographic approach. The founding father of this strategy was Bronislaw Malinowski.
Common data-gathering techniques of ethnography involve unstructured interviews and
surveys

Sociology
People make many decisions, both mundane and serious, in the course of their daily
living. 

People make many decisions, both mundane and serious, in the course of their daily
living. We decide what dish to cook, where to buy shirts, what name to give our child,
when to get married, how to best discipline children and others. We take it for granted
that when asked who decides in these matters, we readily say, “Of course, I did.” We
like to think of ourselves as independent-minded, and that we believe according to choices we make out of our
own free will.

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ot-zIQSqv7k&feature=emb_title

Sociology makes us aware that when we make decisions, such as those mentioned above, it is within the context
of our family, peers, school, nation, and other groups that form our social world. Just as the seasons affect the
clothes, we wear ad the kind of activities we engage in, our social world guides our life choices.

Does this make sense? Think about it. Even when you think that you are making your
own choices, is it not that you are only picking from a fairly limited range of options?
For example, during lunchtime in school, you probably would choose rice and adobo
and you would say, “My personal favorite.” Try to think beyond the idea that your food
preference is your own personal favorite. It is not that you being a
Filipino is a large part of the reason adobo is your favorite, and in the
Philippines, adobo is available in most restaurants? Thus, your race
has played a part in your choice of food.

Let us move on to a more serious matter. Consider dating. The decision whether to date, whom
to date, and when to date are very personal. However, a closer look reveals that they are not.
Dating decisions follow certain rules. For example, in the Philippines, you can only date at a
certain age, and your parents have to know and permit it. Your family places more restrictions:
you should date someone who comes from good family background, and preferably the same religion as yours.
There are no laws that dictate that family rules must pervade but try violating them, and you will experience
serious consequences. Now, you wonder why everyone cares so much about whom to date. Congratulations, in
doing so, you are already using sociology!

Sociology and the Sociological Perspectives

Sociology is the study of society, social institutions, and social relationships. Sociology is interested in
describing and explaining human behavior, especially as it occurs within a social context (Merriam-Webster).

Sociology is the study of society, social institutions, and social relationships. Sociology is interested in
describing and explaining human behavior, especially as it occurs within a social context (Merriam-Webster). It
is less interested in the individuals than in the group to which they are apart.

Studying sociology is practical and useful. As social beings, we gain an understanding of how the social world
operates and of our place in it. C. Wright Mills (1959) calls it the sociological imagination, which he defined as
“the vivid awareness of the relationship between private experience and the wider society.”

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnCJU6PaCio&feature=emb_title

Sociology’s point of view is distinct from other sciences. Peter Berger explains that
the perspective of sociology enables us to see “general patterns in particular events”
(Macionis, 2010). This means finding general patterns in particular events. The first
systematic study on suicide provides a good example. Emile Durkheim’s pioneering
study on suicide in the 1800s revealed that there are categories of people who are
more likely to commit suicide. In France and Central Europe, the suicide rate was
higher for the males, Protestants, the wealthy, and the married. In general, the more
socially integrated people (formed by ties of affection and obligation) are less likely
to end their lives.

Sociology also enables us to see the “strange” in the familiar (Macionis, 2010). This means detaching ourselves
from common explanations by taking a new look at society. Human behavior is not simply a matter of what
people decide to do; society shapes our thoughts and deeds. For example, how does sociology look at cult
members who strongly believe in the magical powers of their leader? W.I. Thomas, an American sociologist,
formulated a theorem in 1928 which states: “if people define situations as real, they are real in their
consequences.” Hence, if cult members consider their leader powerful, then he can perform magic.

-END-
NAME: _______________________ YEAR & SECTION: _________________
SUBJECT: ____________________ DATE: ________________

QUIZ 1:
1. Society refers to a group of people sharing a common culture.
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
ANSWER:
2. Society has a more comprehensive set of cultures in the sense that the group is culturally self-sufficient.
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
ANSWER:
3. Society arises only when individuals are knit together in a network of mutual stimulus and response.
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
ANSWER:
4. Politics is the complex whole which encompasses beliefs, practices, values, attitudes, laws, norms,
artifacts, symbols, knowledge and everything that a person learns and shares as a member of society.
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
ANSWER:
5. In Ellen Rudolf’s study of the Philippine language culture, she found out that men and women used
language very differently.
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
ANSWER:
6. Political behaviors allow people to fit into and adapt to their respective environments.
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
ANSWER:
7. The cumulative and social nature of human ideas, activities, and artifacts gives a tremendous potential
source of variability in adaptation.
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
ANSWER:
8. Cultural patterns that constitute a specific culture are not genetically or biologically determined.
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
ANSWER:
9. Social interaction, as commonly viewed, implies theories of reciprocity, complementarity, and mutuality
of response.
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
ANSWER:
10. Culture is transmitted through socialization or enculturation.
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
ANSWER:
11. Language has been called “the storehouse of culture.”
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
ANSWER:
12. Sociology is considered the father, or even grandfather, of all social and behavioral sciences like
sociology, economics, and psychology, to name a few.
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
 ANSWER:
13. Franz Boas is considered as the Father of American Anthropology.
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
ANSWER:
14. Bronislaw Malinowski became a specialist in anthropology and folklore and authored one of the three
famous books utilized in the academic league of Margaret Mead.
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
ANSWER:
15. Sociology is the study of society, social institutions, and social relationships.
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
ANSWER:

QUIZ 2:

Cite the major contributions of the anthropologists that were discussed in the module.
1. Franz Boas
2. Alfred Kroeber
3. Ruth Benedict
4. Bronislaw Malinowski
5. William Henry Morgan

OUTPUT

Discuss the similarities and differences of Anthropology and Sociology using the Venn Diagram.