Reneil Cadelina Babyvelle Hatol Lady Lee Cabigan

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Culture refers to the outlook, attitudes, values, goals, and practices shared by a group, organization, or
society.
Culture describes a collective way of life, or way of doing things. It is the sum of attitudes, values,
goals, and practices shared by individuals in a group, organization, or society. Cultures vary over time
periods, between countries and geographic regions, and among groups and organizations. Culture
reflects the moral and ethical beliefs and standards that speak to how people should behave and
interact with others.
2 TYPES OF CULTURE
1. Material culture - is physical things that are created by a society.
2. Non material Culture - cannot be touch, feel, taste or hold.
ELEMENTS OF CULTURE:
1. Social Organization - In most cultures, society divides people by social organization. Mostly there is a
ruler who is more powerful than other persons.
2. Customs - Customs are traditions, values, and social standards of a society and establish practices.
These help a society indicate the rules of behavior which enforce ideas of right and wrong. These can
be traditions, rules, written laws, etc.
3. Rituals - Rituals are processes or set s of actions that are repeated in specific conditions and with
specific meaning. They may be used in such as when someone is promoted or retires. They may be
associated with company events or special day.
4. Religion - Religion is another important element of culture, which describes a society’s morals and
beliefs about humanity’s spirituality and reason for existing.
5. Language - Language is a symbolic system through which people communicate and through which
culture is written, acted and transmitted.
6. Norms - There are different norms, standards and expectations in cultures for behaving.
CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE
1. Learnt - Culture is learnt from their elders because it’s not biological. Culture is not the thing you
study or inherit but it is just the process you pass from it. Instead, you learn culture subconsciously
without paying any attention. Children learn culture by watching their parents and family. They copy
behaviors and adopt different roles and values. We learn our culture not only from our parents but
also from families, institutions, media and other people.
2. Shared - Culture is something that is shared because we share our culture with other members of
our group. Culture is always transferred by sharing. Culture is shared in many ways like social
communication, group discussions, public speaking, TV, internet. Although culture is share but it
doesn’t mean culture is homogeneous.
3. Social - Culture is social, it is not the one person phenomena. It is the product of society and raise
and grows through social interaction. Culture can be thoughts of social influence and it must be social
without it there is no concept of culture.
4. Continuous - Culture is a continuous process and adapts changes in the environment. Culture is
growing whole with the achievements of the past and present and provide the future achievements of
mankind. Culture is the result of past and present experiences.
5. Integrated - Culture is also integrated because its various parts are interconnected. All components
of culture are connected to one another and to gain a extensive Understanding of culture, we must
learn about all these different components.
LEVEL OF CULTURE
1. International culture - refers to cultural traits that extend beyond national boundaries. These
cultural traits and patterns spread through diffusion, migration, colonization, and globalization.
2. National culture - are the beliefs, behavior patterns, values, cultural traits, and institutions shared
within a country. National culture is most easily recognizable in the form of symbols such as flags,
logos, and colors as well as sound including national anthems and musical styles.
3. Subcultures - level of culture, are smaller groups of people who share cultural traits and patterns
within the same country. Subcultures have shared experiences and common cultural distinctions, but
they are a part of the larger society or cultural system.
Cultural relativism - The idea that we should seek to understand another person’s beliefs and
behaviors from the perspective of their culture rather than our own.
CLAIMS OF CULTURAL RELATIVISM
Different societies have different moral codes.
There is no objective standard that can be used to judge one societal code better than another.
The moral code of our own society has no special status; it is merely one among many.
There is no "universal truth" in ethics; that is, there are no moral truths that hold for all peoples at all
times.
The moral code of a society determines what is right within that society; that is, if the moral code of a
society says that a certain action is right, then that action is right, at least within that society.
It is mere arrogance for us to try to judge the conduct of other peoples. We should adopt an attitude
of tolerance toward the practices of other cultures.
WHAT IS THE IMPLICATION TO ETHICS AS A FIELD OF STUDY IF CULTURAL RELATIVISM IS TRUE?
The Greeks believed it was wrong to eat the dead, whereas the Callatians believed it was right to eat
the dead.
Therefore, eating the dead is neither objectively right nor objectively wrong. It is merely a matter of
opinion, which varies from culture to culture.
Different cultures have different moral codes.
Therefore, there is no objective "truth" in morality. Right and wrong are only matters of opinion, and
opinions vary from culture to culture.
DIFFERENT CULTURES HAVE DIFFERENT MORAL CODES.
Therefore, there is no objective "truth" in morality. Right and wrong are only matters of opinion, and
opinions vary from culture to culture.
WHAT IF CULTURAL RELATIVISM IS TRUE?
We cannot claim that any culture is inferior. But we also cannot criticize the cultural practices of other
people.
We can decide if an action is right by asking the standards of that society. But we cannot claim that
such standards can be improved. We can’t even make that claim on our own culture.
There is no such thing as moral progress.
WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM CULTURAL RELATIVISM
How to escape the unconscious bonds of one's own culture, which inevitably bias our perceptions of
and reactions to the world.
Not all of our preferences are based on absolute standards.
How to make sense of an unfamiliar culture. Keep an open mind.
WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF CULTURAL RELATIVISM?
1. It is a system which promotes cooperation.
2. It creates a society where equality is possible.
3. People can pursue a genuine interest.
4. Respect is encouraged in a system of cultural relativism.
5. It preserves human cultures.
6. Cultural relativism creates a society without judgment.
7. Moral relativism can be excluded from cultural relativism.
8. We can create personal moral codes based on societal standards with ease.
9. It stops cultural conditioning.
WHAT ARE THE DISADVANTAGES OF CULTURAL RELATIVISM?
1. It creates a system that is fueled by personal bias.
2. It would create chaos.
3. It is an idea that is based on the perfection of humanity.
4. It could promote a lack of diversity.
5. It draws people away from one another.
6. It could limit moral progress.
7. It could limit humanity’s progress.
8. Cultural relativism can turn perceptions into truths.
SUMMARY
What is culture? How does it define our moral behavior?

Cultural relativism: definition, advantages of recognizing the differences, and the dangers of the position.
How can we relate sociology, philosophy, and anthropology to cultural relativism?