Definition of Culture
Culture stands out as the collective manifestation of human intellectual achievement at any given point in time. It is like a mirror of the inner beliefs, ideals, aims, and spiritual state of a society. One society, however, can have more than one culture (competing cultures, for instance, or sub-cultures that conflict with one another in terms of values and ideals, art and expression). Thus, to speak of society as having one culture is to speak generally and broadly. Nonetheless, in generic terms, culture encompasses the beliefs, values, behaviors, and objects that together form a people's way of life. It is a bond in the sense that people of like-minded culture tend to come together, and it is a divider in the sense that people of different cultures tend to separate. For those united by it, they form a collective identity with shared experiences and histories.
Moreover, culture is both enduring and ever-changing, because people are always changing; inputs and outputs are changing, and so what is valued and professed is always changing too along with the expressions of these values and ideals. However, culture is enduring because the values and ideals are always existent; they transcend time and space; what the ancients valued and held as an ideal in one place can still be held as a value and an ideal thousands of years later in an entirely different place. Culture represents both a kind of moral compass for the individual and a kind of collective consciousness of society; it is responsible for shaping perceptions, for guiding interactions, and for helping to establish a sense of belonging and continuity.
My personal definition of culture aligns closely...
To me, culture represents the beliefs and values that form the core principles and moral standards guiding individual behavior. It is something that speaks to the rules defining appropriate
behavior within a given society. Culture reflects...
…aspectsintellectual, moral, and socialinto one giant crystal ball of
reflection. Into this ball, everything goes, and one can see everything in it. What one chooses to pull out or focus on is usually what gets called culture. But it is all in there: it is a giant soup of ingredients. Tylers definition basically reflects my sense of culture as an enormous idea that is partly defined by shared values and traditions and partly defined by the things that divide people and drive them apart.
In conclusion, culture is a concept that defies a singular definition. That is most likely because it simply is so big. It is a tapestry woven from the threads of values, beliefs, traditions, languages, and social norms. It is both a legacy from the past and a living, evolving entity that shapes and is shaped by the members of a society.
Works Cited
"Smith, John." Personal interview. 31 Jan. 2024.
"Wesson, Mary." Personal interview. 31 Jan. 2024.
Tylor, Edward B. "Primitive Culture." London, John Murray,…
