Concept of Culture
“Nowadays the concept of culture in anthropology and sociology is regarded as a fundamental element in the humanities.” (Chase, 1948: 59; cited in Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2007: The culture concept in anthropology)
Today culture is one of the most discussed concepts all around the world. It has a crucial role in human relations. Its understanding is the kernel of the new multiculturalism policy of different countries around the globe. And in this understanding the social sciences has a very crucial and important role. Anthropology is the most noted among them. But how did the conceptualization of ‘culture’ enter in the humanities? And especially how did it became a part of anthropology? Has it always been present or there is a point in history that it emerged at the core of social science?
The purpose of this short essay is to show shortly how did the culture concept make its journey through science during the late twentieth century. I will try to do that in a diachronically-descriptive method, showing what were the roots of the concept, how did it enter anthropology, and made its way through it. I will refer principally to anthropology because it is maybe the social science that mostly studied man and its habitat in many dimensions. And is also the social science that studied the culture concept thoroughly.
The first steps were made in the ancient world. The first to raise issues about this concept were Hippocrates, Homers, Plato and Boethius (Kroeber & Kluckhohn, 1952: 13). But it was with Descartes that the culture concept began its real way through the academic world. Descartes shows at his “Meditations” his view about the tradition, customs, norms and values, of the people he encountered during his expeditions. In a certain way he did what Franz Boas would do after centuries with the Native Americans in Canada. Or, as Descartes himself states, that “during my journeys I understood that those who had different attitudes and
Today culture is one of the most discussed concepts all around the world. It has a crucial role in human relations. Its understanding is the kernel of the new multiculturalism policy of different countries around the globe. And in this understanding the social sciences has a very crucial and important role. Anthropology is the most noted among them. But how did the conceptualization of ‘culture’ enter in the humanities? And especially how did it became a part of anthropology? Has it always been present or there is a point in history that it emerged at the core of social science?
The purpose of this short essay is to show shortly how did the culture concept make its journey through science during the late twentieth century. I will try to do that in a diachronically-descriptive method, showing what were the roots of the concept, how did it enter anthropology, and made its way through it. I will refer principally to anthropology because it is maybe the social science that mostly studied man and its habitat in many dimensions. And is also the social science that studied the culture concept thoroughly.
The first steps were made in the ancient world. The first to raise issues about this concept were Hippocrates, Homers, Plato and Boethius (Kroeber & Kluckhohn, 1952: 13). But it was with Descartes that the culture concept began its real way through the academic world. Descartes shows at his “Meditations” his view about the tradition, customs, norms and values, of the people he encountered during his expeditions. In a certain way he did what Franz Boas would do after centuries with the Native Americans in Canada. Or, as Descartes himself states, that “during my journeys I understood that those who had different attitudes and
Cited: & Refered Boas, Franz. "Mythology and folk-tales of the North American Indians." Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 27, No. 106, Oct.-Dec. 1914. Kroeber, A. L. & Cluckhohn, Clyde. Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions. New York: Vintage Books. 1952. Encyclopaedia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite . The culture concept in anthropology. Chicago: The Encyclopaedia Britannica Publishing House. 2007. Said, Edward. Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books. 1978. Murdock, G. P. "The Science of Culture". American Anthropologist vol. 34, 1932.