Defining Culture and Society

Lesson No. 1: Understanding the concept of Culture and

Society
Introduction
You have always heard the word culture being used in
conversation. At times, it refers to something ethnic; some
people think of it as an all-encompassing of term that separate
humans form the rest of animal kingdom. But, what is culture
exactly?
Culture is everything that a person learns as a member of
society. Society operate not in random, it has patterns,
structures that allows it to function. Culture serves society’s
engine.
Key Concept
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 (Taylor, 1920). In short, it is the
customary ways in which humans live.
 Material Culture
 Visible and tangible part culture
 Material object or physical
representation (furniture, buildings,
gadgets, clothes, etc.)
 Components of culture which are
created /produced, changed and utilized
 Example: Churches, Folk Dances,
Festival
Non-material Culture
 Non-tangible or without physical
representation
 Cognitive non-material culture (ideas,
concepts, philosophies, design, etc.)
 Product of the mental and intellectual
functioning and reasoning of the human
mind
 Normative non-material culture
 Includes all the expectations, standards,
and rule for human behavior
 Example values, attitudes, ideas
Elements of Culture
a. Beliefs- conceptions or ideas of people have about what is true
in the environment around them.
b. Values- describe what is appropriate or inappropriate in a given
society or what ought to be.
c. People- live in culture wherein symbols are used to understand
each other
d. Language- A shared set of spoken and written symbols
e. Technology- refers to the application of knowledge and
equipment to ease the task of living and maintaining
the environment.
f. Norms- are specific rules/standards to guide to appropriate
behavior.
Forms of norms
a. Folkways- Aka customs, they are norms for everyday behavior that
people follow for the sake of tradition or convenience.
 -Customary patterns that specify what is socially correct and
proper in everyday life. They are repetitive or the typical
habits and patterns of expected behavior followed
within a group of community.
a. Mores-They are strict norms that control moral and ethical behavior
(what is right or wrong behavior).
b. Taboos-Norms that are society hold so strongly that violating it
results in extreme disgust. Ex: One Taboos in Islam is eating
pork.
c. Laws- Codified ethics, formally agreed, written down and enforced
by an official law enforcement agency.
Aspects of Culture
1. Dynamic, Flexible, and Adaptive
 Culture is diverse and plural. This means that cultures interact and
change. Because most cultures are in contact with other cultures, they
exchange ideas and symbols. All cultures are change, otherwise, they
would have problems adapting to changing environments. And because
cultures are integrated, if one component in the system changes, it is
likely that the entire system must adjust.
2. Shared and Contested (given reality of social differentiation)
 The set of behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs that a person possesses is
part of a greater collection of values and ideas that is communally owned
and practiced by member of a society.
 As we share culture, we are able to act appropriate ways as well as
predict how others will act.
3. Learned through socialization or enculturation
 Culture is not biological, but learned as interact in the society.

4. Patterned social interaction

 Culture has the capacity to define and control human behaviors
5. Integrated- or holism
 Various parts of culture are interconnected or interlinked. All

aspects of culture are related to one another and to truly understand

a culture, one must learn about all its part, not only few.
6. Transmitted through socialization/enculturation
 As we share culture with others, we are able to pass it on the new

member of society.
7. Requires language and other forms of communication
 In the process of learning and transmitting culture, we need

language and symbols to communicate with other society.

 To further understand culture, it is important not to forget the biological
dimensions of being human. The capacity of a person to organize his or
her own society and form cultural systems is made possible by the ability
of humans to imagine and execute what they can do. Through the power
of their brains, humans possess a considerable degree of awareness and
knowledge of what they can achieve. At the same time, the natural world
casts limitation as well as opportunities for humans in terms of realizing
how else they can organize their societies and form their cultures. For
instance, some societies harness resources on flatlands or high up in the
mountains while others organize their lives around the seas. These
undertakings indicate that the specific environment in which people live
also shape human culture in the same way that culture shapes how people
reshape nature.
Activity: My Culture My Heritage
Instruction: Write you answer on a whole clean sheet of intermediate pad.
1. What is Culture for you? Answer it in 3 to 5 sentences.(5pts)

2. Identify two Philippine cultural heritage under threat—one tangible and one
intangible. For both, identify the threats and their sources, and then come up with a
plan of action on how to deal with these threats. Write your output on the table.(20
points)

3. Choose one aspect of culture. Then list down 5 examples for aspects of culture you
chose which can be seen in family, school and community. (5pts)

Heritage Threats Plan of Action

Thank You and
Godbless!!!