CULTURE

Culture means
 An act of cultivating soil
 The proper care and development of plants and animals

It traces its origin from the ancient Latin word “cultura”

means cultivation or tending, and was introduced into
English language in the year 1430. (Oxford English
Dictionary)

Culture is the “training, development and refinement of

mind, tastes and manners” (Oxford English Dictionary)

Today, Culture means:

1. Artistic and intellectual pursuits and products.
2. Development or improvement of the mind, morals, etc. .
3. The ways of living built up by a human group and
transmitted to succeeding generations.

**this etymological evolution is an indication of how the

word “culture” itself undergoes cultural change as society
develops.
Samuel Butler (1835-1902)
He emphasized this point “A man should be just cultured enough to be able
to look with suspicion upon culture.”

**Multiplicity of meanings, therefore, is a welcome development due to the

complexities of culture. -- Samuel Butler

“No culture, therefore, can live if it attempts to be exclusive.”

--Mahatma Gandhi

“The complex whole which includes knowledge,

belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other
capabilities and habits acquired by man as a
member of society.” -- Edward Tylor

“One has to be critical in order to be cultured.”

--Samuel Butler
These are the cultural experts probably discussed possibility of culture in
different forms and dimensions.

Matthew Arnold: High Culture (1869)

• great Victorian poet
• expert in literary criticism
• inspector of schools
• an influential public figure

The best ideas and discourse the world can offer.

Culture is the most essential element of a dynamic
Democratic state.
“The highly instructed few and not the
scantily-instructed many will never be the
organ of the human race of knowledge and
truth in the full sense of the word, are not attainable
by the great mass of the human race at all.”

To produce a minority, a cultured middle class

from where authority shall emanate.
Raymond Williams: Ordinary Culture (1958)
• academic
• novelist
• critic
• influential figure

“The best that has been thought and said” but rather that culture is
ordinary.

We find here a desire of being in a state of belongingness

(shared values, co-experiencing with others,
common political struggle, etc.)

What is important for him is not a passive

appreciation of culture, but more so, a
commitment to the simplicity of ordinary,
everyday cultural reconstitution.
Clifford Geertz: Interpretation of Culture (1973)
• Best known for his anthropological studies of Javanese culture and
writings about the interpretation of culture

Culture for him is not an experimental science in search of law but an

interpretative one in search of meaning. Analyzing a particular way of life
is like a close reading of a text which extracts meaning based from one’s
personal tradition and perspective in life.

ELEMENTS OF CULTURE
1. VALUES – a basic set of values make up the
essential part of a culture, providing directions
on what is good or bad and right and wrong
2. BELIEFS – people of modern age
technology still consider, consult and depend
upon a body of beliefs for courses of actions .
2. NORMS – etiquette, speech, facial expressions
and mannerisms are part of society’s norms.
2 Types of Norms
a. PRESPECTIVE NORMS – are those which are right, legal, ethical, good,
proper, moral and appropriate.
b. PROSCRIPTIVE NORMS – are those which are unethical, wrong, bad,
immoral, illegal, inappropriate and improper.

4. LANGUAGE – It is considered as the most important channel for

communication, is a medium for determining society’s values. It promotes
and perpetuates one’s cultural heritage and expresses national
identity and history.
5. FOLKWAYS –customs, habits and repetitive
patterns of expected behavior.
6. MORES – carry moral or ethical values
and are the results of long-established customs
7. LAWS – formalized norms sanctioned by
the state.
8. MATERIAL CULTURE – refers to the physical
objects made by men.
9. TECHNOLOGY – refers to the techniques and knowledge utilizing raw
materials to produce food, tools, clothing, shelter, means of transportation
and weapon.

SENSES OF CULTURE
According Bernard and Spencer (1996), there are at least two senses of
culture.
1. HUMANISTIC SENSE - is singular and evaluative
Culture is what a person one ought to acquire in order to become
a full worthwhile moral agent.
2. ANTHROPOLOGICAL SENSE - plural and relativistic
Any particular person is a product of a particular
culture in which he/she lived. Differences
between human beings are to be explained
but not judged by differences in their
cultures rather than by their races.
CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE
1. CULTURE IS SHARED
Social interactions is made meaningful by the shared beliefs, values and
expectations of people.
2. CULTURE IS A GROUP PRODUCT
The result of a group’s habits and experiences, passed on to succeeding
generations for posterity.
3. CULTURE IS LEARNED
Man acquires culture through learning via language and
writing.
4. CULTURE IS TRANSMITTED FROM GENERATION
It may be transmitted by formal communication
mass communication, suggestion and by a
system of rewards and punishment.
5. CULTURE IS PATTERNED AND INTEGRATED
Where there is conformity between ideal norms
and actual behavior.
6. CULTURE IS ADAPTIVE AND MALADAPTIVE
Adaptive when used by man to make the environment viable for a stable
economy.
Maladaptive when scarce resources are destroyed or depleted.
7. CULTURE IS DYNAMIC
A group’s culture is never in a permanent state. Today’s practices may no
longer be applicable in the future.

COMPONENTS OF CULTURE
1. TOPICAL – consists of everything on a list of topics
2. HISTORICAL – social heritage or tradition that is
passed on to future generations.
3. BEHAVIORAL – shared, learned, human
behavior, a way of life
4. NORMATIVE – ideals, values or rules for
Living
5. FUNCTIONAL – the way of human beings
solve problems of adapting to the environment
or living together.
6. MENTAL a complex use of ideas or learned habits that inhibits impulses
and distinguishes people from animals.
7. STRUCTURAL consists of patterned and interrelated ideas, symbols or
behavior.
8. SYMBOLIC based on arbitrarily assigned meanings that are shared by
society.

HOME AS A CULTURAL HABITAT

The process of homemaking is a cultural phenomenon. Home
is a characteristic cultural space because of its significant
contribution to meaning-making in society. Since
home is an attitude of comfort, we tend to act
move and have our ways habitually. Is it
through our homegrown perspective
behavior that we are brought into culture.
Most of our habits are influenced by infinite
Interactions with the outside world.
FILIPINO VALUE SYSTEM:
A CULTURAL IDEAL
VALUED DEFINED
 value comes from the Latin word valere =strong and vigorous

Filipino values are considered basic building concepts of the Filipino

cultural system.

OUR TESTS OF A VALUE

FOUR TESTS OF VALUE by Robin Williams

1. Extensiveness of the value in the total activity

of the system.
2. Duration of the value.
3. Intensity with which the value is sought
or maintanined
4. Prestige of value carriers.
STAGES IN THEN DEVELOPMENT OF FILIPINO VALUE FORMATION
(Andres, 1989)

THE PRECONDITIONAL STAGE: Childhood

The phase wherein children comply with the values of those who assert
power on them (parents, teachers, nuns and priests)

THE CONVENTIONAL STAGE: Youth

During the conventional stage or youth, the adolescents
identity with their peers, idols and teachers due to
Interpersonal communication.

THE POSTCONVENTIONAL STAGE: Adulthood

The people internalize the values they have
imbibed in the first two stages without fear.
FAMILY CLOSENESS AND SECURE
Home is where we all start to be encultured and where we form or
inherit values. The Filipino family is attentive to everything that promotes
or hinders its own well-being.
It would refer to natural dependence and mutual sharing among family
members, financially and emotionally.

SOCIAL ACCEPTANCE
-refers to the way of life of Filipinos to be recognized or
acknowledged by their fellowmen and social groups.
PAKIKISAMA
-yielding to the will of the majority or to the
leader which could result both to positive
and negative behavior. It refers to one’s
effort to get along with everybody.
EUPHEMISM
Stating an unpleasant truth, opinion or
request as pleasantly as possible. In order
not to offend others, directs, harsh and brutal
words must be avoided.
THE USE OF A GO-BETWEEN TO PRESERVE OR RESTORE
SMOOTH INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS (SIR)

A go-between or middleman is a way of social acceptance to avoid

being embarrassed (mapahiya) in a face-to-face confrontation that
may bring about an uncomfortable feeling of shame.

PAKIKIRAMDAM
-a value affecting the team’s spirit. This value should be
used positively to ensure rational problem-solving,
decision-making and policy formation.

PERSONALISM
the importance of the person with whom
one has immediate face-to-face contact
over the abstract rule of law or common good.
NONRATIONALISM
-refers to the tendency to perceive thoughts, objects, events, and
persons as sacred. These beliefs are deeply rooted in our culture and
history. It is exemplified when barrio folks conduct rituals to expect a
good harvest.
animism – is the belief that a spirit pervades in activities
fatalism – expresses the bahala na attitude which means
leaving matters as they are because nature will take its course.

BAHALA NA
- Expresses the fatalistic outlook of the Filipino. It
happens when one simply resigns to the
consequences of life’s difficulties.

UTANG NA LOOB: INFINITE RESPONSIBILITY

Reciprocity or debt of gratitude is the most
revered Filipino values.
“Our culture, our traditions, our
language are the foundations

upon which we build our

identity.”