ANTHROPOLOGY is derived from the Greek words Anthropos which means
man and logos meaning the study of. It is the study of human difference,
cultural and biological against the background of the nature all humans share.
Anthropologist study human social life and culture including the origin of the
human race.
CULTURE is defined by
Edward B. Taylor as that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art,
law , morals, customs and other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a
member of a society.
KINDS OF CULTURE
1. Non-Material culture (intangible) includes beliefs, moral, laws, customs, traditions, folk ways and mores etc.
2. Material culture
(tangible) includes man’s technologies, etc.
CHARATERISTICS OF CULTURE
1. Culture is learned – man is not born with culture, but he is born with the capacity to acquire and learn the culture of his group.
2. All people have varied culture – every society has its cultural values that are entirely different from the others.
3. Culture is a group product – man cannot develop a culture of his own if he is alone.
4. Culture is transmitted – the learned culture of the past generation are transmitted to posterity through education.
What we are today is the
product of what they were before.
IMPORTANCE OF CULTURE
1. Through the development of culture man can set aside certain laws of nature to conform to his needs.
2. Through the development
of culture man can overcome his physical handicaps.
FOLKWAYS – customary ways of behaving which have become habitual repetitive to an individual or group.
Ex. Caring for the elders and
saying po and opo
MORES occurs when folkways become compulsive for the welfare of the society and it has acquired moral significance.
Failure to observe or conform
to this will result to ostracism or condemnation.
CULTURE CHANGE may occur either by accident or direction. It is
brought about by the passage of time, migration and other factors.
SUB-CULTURE refers to the attitude of a certain group to deviate from the habitual practices of the majority.
This is apparent in the new
styles of dressing, language and other practices of a group of people which are
different from the majority.
CULTURAL RELATIVISM refers to the practices considered immoral or
taboo to a certain group of people, yet moral to other societies.
Ex. Polygamy, pre-marital sex, etc.
CULTURE SHOCK is the term used to denote the feeling of depression,
often expressed as homesickness, cause by living in a foreign environment.
Faced with an unknown or
poorly understood foreign language and confused by different codes of conduct,
unfamiliar food and even unfamiliar physical surrounding, the traveler or new
resident may look upon the people and the unaccustomed behavior with distaste
and sometimes with fear.
CULTURAL VALUES refer to the collective ethical, aesthetics and
religious values of the community including artistic inclination, poetry, music
, painting, literature and such other practices which the entire society
consider as bital elements of their existence.
Test of Robin Williams to determine which practices are included in
one’s culture
1.
Extensiveness
– number of percentage of the population practicing the value.
2.
Duration
– time element. How long has the value been practiced.
3. Intensity
– the total impact of the value upon the populace. The severity or gravity of
punishment or condemnation for violation.
4.
Prestige
of the value carrier- refers to the people practicing such value.
FILIPINO CULTURAL VALUES
The Filipino people are known for their various cultural
values. Whether beneficial or not, these cultural values make the Filipinos
unique and distinct from other peoples of the world.
Some of the important Filipino
cultural values are the following:
Non-rationalism is the tendency to perceive thoughts, objects, events and persons as sacred. This includes:
Animism – the belief in supernatural spirits who are presumably interfering with man’s daily affairs.
Fatalism – belief in luck, fortune telling,”Bahala Na” “suwerte” or malas, horoscope etc.
Social Acceptance – the desire to be always accepted by the group
Pakikisama – yielding to the decisions of the majority
Euphenism – stating an unpleasant truth, opinion, or request as
pleasantly as possible.
Go-between – the use of a third party to be exact favor or request from another person. This includes hiya and amor propio
Emotional closeness and security of the family means the mutual dependence among relative. This could also mean granting special favors or privileges among the immediate or even distant relatives.
Authority refers to the emphasis on the power and importance of
authority
figure.
Economic and social improvement is the desire to improve the standard of living of his family and his hometown.
Utang Na loob means sense of gratitude
Personalism emphasizes the importance of the person with whom one has immediate face to face contact and contact and connection.
This includes pakiusap, lagay, areglo and palakasan
Indolence – laziness
Ningas kugon means great enthusiasm at the beginning of a task, yet after a certain period of time the enthusiasm is fading gradually.
Mañana habit refers to procrastination or putting for tomorrow what
can be done
today.
Hospitality means cordially entertaining guests and visitors even to the point of sacrificing their own welfare.
Fiesta syndrome refers to the lavish spending during fiestas and
other occasions.