POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

The Self from

Various
Perspectives
Anthropology
Created by
John Arvin M. Baygan
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The Overview
One of the most debated issues in sociology is the problematic relationship
between society and individual. The self is a relatively stable set of
perceptions of who we are in relation to ourselves, others, and to social
systems. The self is socially constructed in the sense that it is shaped through
interaction with other people.
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The Module Objectives
After successful completion of this module, you should be able
to discuss different conceptions of the self according to
Sociology.
Course Materials
The Postmodern Problem of the Self
The modern problem of self and identity continues to be
a controversial issue… In the postmodern view, the self
is not the creator of meaning, nor the center or starting
point of sociological inquiry. Far from it, the self is also
seen as a product of modern social discourse that is
socially and historically condition (Foucault, 1970).
Read:

•Lanuza, G. (2004). The Constitution of the Self. In

Marsella (ed) Culture
Culture
Cultur
e
To put it another way, culture goes deeper
than observable behavior; it is a society’s
shared and socially transmitted ideas, values,
and perceptions, which are used to make
sense of experience and generate behavior
and are reflected in behavior.
Characteristics of Culture

1. Culture is learned- One learns one’s culture

by growing up with it, and the process
whereby culture is transmitted from one
generation to the next is called
enculturation.

Enculturation- The process by which a

society’s culture is transmitted from one
generation to the next and
individuals become members of their
society.
Characteristics of Culture

2. Culture is shared- As a shared set of ideas,

values, perceptions, and standards of behavior,
culture is the common denominator that makes
the actions of individuals intelligible to other
members of their society

Society- may be defined as an organized group or

groups of interdependent people who generally
share a common territory, language, and culture
and who act together for collective survival and
well-being.
Characteristics of Culture

2. Culture is shared

Subcultures - A distinctive set of standards and

behavior patterns by which a group within a
larger society operates, while still sharing
common standards with that larger society.

Ethnic group- People who collectively and

publicly identify themselves as a distinct group
based on various cultural features such as shared
ancestry and common origin, language, customs,
and traditional beliefs.
Characteristics of Culture

2. Culture is shared

Ethnicity- This term, rooted in the Greek word

ethnikos (“nation”) and related to ethnos
(“custom”), is the expression of the set of cultural
ideas held by an ethnic group.

Pluralistic society- A society in which two or more

ethnic groups or nationalities are politically
organized into one territorial state but maintain
their cultural diff erences.
Characteristics of Culture

3. Culture is Based on Symbols

Much of human behavior involves symbols—

signs, sounds, emblems, and other things that
are linked to something else and represent them
in a meaningful way. Because often there is no
inherent or necessary relationship between a
thing and its representation, symbols are
commonly arbitrary, acquiring specifi c meanings
when people agree on usage in their
communications.
Characteristics of Culture

3. Culture is Based on Symbols

Symbol- A sign, sound, emblem, or other thing

that is arbitrarily linked to something else and
represents it in a meaningful way.
Characteristics of Culture

4. Culture is Integrated-

For purposes of comparison and analysis,

anthropologists customarily imagine a culture as
a well-structured system made up of distinctive
parts that function together as an organized
whole. Anthropologists recognize that reality is a
more complex intertwining, and divisions
between cultural units are often blurry.
Characteristics of Culture

4. Culture is Integrated-

Social Structure- concerns rulegoverned

relationships—with all their rights and obligations
—that hold members of a society together.
Households, families, associations, and power
relations, including politics, are all part of social
structure.

Infrastructure- The economic foundation of a

society, including its subsistence practices and
the tools and other material equipment used to
make a living.
Characteristics of Culture

Superstructure- This is collective body of ideas,

beliefs, and values by which a group of people
make sense o the world, also known as ideology.
Characteristics of Culture

5. Culture is Dynamic- Cultures are dynamic

systems that respond to motions and actions
within and around them. When one element
within the system shifts or changes, the entire
system strives to adjust, just as it does when an
outside force applies pressure. To function
adequately, a culture must be fl exible enough to
allow such adjustments in the face of unstable or
changing circumstances.
Functions of
Culture
Functions of Culture

Since a culture must support all aspects of

life, as indicated in our barrel model, it must
also meet the psychological and emotional
needs of its members.
Culture, Society
and the Individual
Culture, Society and the Individual

Ultimately, a society is no more than a union of

individuals, all of whom have their own special
needs and interests. To survive, it must succeed in
balancing the immediate self-interest of its
individual members against the needs and demands
of the collective well-being of society as a whole.

To accomplish this, a society offers rewards for

adherence to its culturally prescribed standards. In
most cases, these rewards assume the form of social
approval.
Evaluation of Culture

Ethnocentrism- The belief that the ways

of one’s own culture are the only
proper ones.

Cultural relativism- The idea that one

must suspend judgment of other
people’s practices in order to
understand them in their own cultural
terms.
 Reference

Haviland, William A., Mcbride, Bunny., Prins, Harald E., Walrath, Dana.
(2008). Cultural Anthropology: The Human Challenge. Pp.
26- 39.