Culture and Art Overview

Culture and Art Overview

• Culture, etymologically, originates from agricultural terms like 'coulter', the blade of a ploughshare.
• The concept initially focused on material processes, later shifting to spiritual and abstract ideas.
• The word 'culture' tracks humanity's development from rural life to technological advancement.

Versions of Culture

• Culture is a 'realist' and 'constructivist' concept. Raw materials exist independently but gain significance through human interaction and shape.
• A paradox exists: urban dwellers are 'cultivated' while those working the land are not.
• Philosophy highlights the duality between determinism and freedom, identity and change in the context of culture.

The Shift

• 'Culture' initially referred to material processes, then metaphorically encompassed spiritual aspects.
• This semantic shift reflects humanity's historical development, from agrarian pursuits to advanced technology.

The Paradox

• Urban dwellers are considered 'cultivated', but those who farm lack this label.
• Farming requires intensive labour, leaving little leisure for personal cultivation.

Philosophical Issues

• Determinism versus freedom is a fundamental philosophical concept linked to culture.
• How does identity (personal values) relate to change (progress) is another philosophical concern.

Culture and Nature

• Culture exists as a form of nature; it is not separate from it.
• Nature produces culture, which in turn changes nature.
• Cities are just as natural as rural landscapes, built out of natural elements shaped through labour.

Rules and Freedom

• Culture involves a dynamic interplay of regulation and freedom in a manner that is neither completely chaotic nor entirely pre-determined.
• This implies the idea of freedom and rules interact in the formation of culture.

Human Beings and Environs

• Humans are not solely products of their environment; human beings shape and are shaped by their surroundings.
• Culture is described in terms of the tension between making (through human agency) and being made (by inherent forces) that rationality, spontaneity, making, and being are interwoven.

Self Culture

• Self-culture balances a duality between higher and lower faculties (reason and passion).
• Nature is now interconnected with the self, and culture becomes an active and internal process of self-overcoming as much as self-realization involving the interaction between individual and the world.

Human and Nature

• Humans, like nature, are shaped but can also purposefully shape themselves through action.
• This self-reflexivity is unique to humanity.

The Necessity of Culture

• A need for culture suggests a deficiency in pure nature, as human ambition transcends the natural world.
• Humans strive for levels of self-improvement and social advancement that differ greatly from their natural peers.

Culture and Politics

• Cultivation is a two-way street: a process done to and for oneself, but also shaped by political forces.
• States cultivate citizens. A harmonious state requires a cultivated citizenry with appropriate moral dispositions.
• Culture in civil society is a means of managing social antagonism through the development of ethical self-understanding, necessary for full participation in the political system, as a form of ethical self-cultivation.

Culture and Politics:Elevation over Politics

• Elevating culture above mere politics implies regarding individuals as persons before citizens.
• Developing ethical capacity within citizens is seen as a crucial step before considering civic obligations.

Culture and Politics:Utopianism

• Culture, or the state, can be viewed as a premature resolution of conflict.
• This utopian desire seeks to transcend political conflict via imagined cultural unity and selflessness.

Culture and Politics:Ethical Incubation and Power

• Proposing ethical incubation as a step before civic participation signals a recognition of cultural differences and the potential for struggle.
• Cultural ideals are often driven by political concerns: power plays a large role, especially in colonial discourse.

Danger in Culture

• Culture can suppress negative aspects like division and fractiousness, but the risk lies in the disappearance of diversity through cultural homogenization.
• Culture has a tendency to focus on refining aspects of diversity rather than trying to eradicate it completely, but this can leave cultural expressions that remain separate and distinct from each other.

Culture as Universal Subjectivity

• Culture is a universal force operating within individuals.
• Schiller highlights the archetype of humanity and its striving for unity present in every person.

Schiller's Hegemony

• Culture is the mechanism for achieving societal hegemony; culture and politics are inextricably linked.
• This moulding process shapes individuals into responsible citizens.

Raymond Williams: Three Meanings of Culture

• The first meaning links culture to rural labour and politeness / manners.
• The second meaning refers to the eighteenth-century concept of civilisation encompassing intellectual, spiritual, and material progress.
• The third meaning is about specialized artistic pursuits (music, painting, literature).

Culture and Colonialism

• Culture has been used to justify or oppose colonialist ideals.
• Some see culture as the means of 'western' civilizing other cultures.

Culture and Modernism/Postmodernism

• Culture is now seen against societal norms.
• Postmodernism questions universal standards of culture.
• Postmodernism celebrates diversity while valuing individual cultural expressions.
• Culture is now understood less in terms of perfection but more in respect of diversity.

Culture and Pluralism/Hybridity

• Culture is no longer a static, singular ideal. Instead it is a hybrid, multifaceted expression.
• Culture is often seen as a product of hybridization, a combination of different factors.

Edward Said's Argument

• Cultures are interconnected and diverse, not easily categorized as singular entities.

Culture and Values

• Culture's content is not what matters, but more its capacity to signify.
• Culture reflects the way societies cope with or ignore differences.

Culture and Crises

• Culture and crisis are interwoven. Culture may help with managing, mitigating, or expressing crisis.
• Culture is often a response to societal ills and/or a way to express certain identities.

Culture vs. Civilization

• Civilization is often seen as abstract, mechanistic, and material-focused, a contrast to the holistic and often subjective aspects of culture.
• In contrast to civilization that is considered as one way to improve societies, culture is linked to tradition and often stands in opposition to the progress associated with a certain idea of civilization.

Culture as Civility/Way of Life

• Culture as a way of life is distinct from simple aesthetics, with artefacts used to embody a way of life and values.
• Fine living is a cultural expression, and not just something that art aims to represent.

Culture and Subjectivity

• Culture is not any specific way of life but universal in nature and applies broadly to many cultures.
• Culture is often seen as a local expression while remaining rooted in common humanity.

Culture and Modernism and Art

• Art was previously used to represent God, happiness or justice.
• The role of art has shifted towards a critical engagement with society and its values.

Culture and Power

• Culture is used as a tool by powerful institutions as a tool for persuading their publics—in particular, high culture.
• High culture tends to intimidate as well as inspire and it can be a method of moral persuasion.

Culture, Anthropology and Others

• The idea of culture as a concept started with anthropologists trying to classify and categorize different cultures, often treating those not western in a problematic way (looking and treating the outsiders as if they were less than fully human).
• A cultural group may see 'outsiders' as subhuman and deserving of scrutiny.

Culture and Cosmopolitanism

• Migration and cosmopolitanism contribute to the complexity of culture.
• Cosmopolitanism is frequently a response to specific kinds of crises (migration, economic inequalities).

Culture in a Postmodern Society

• Culture may reflect a response to crises, and may take more diverse and critical forms.
• Culture is not a simple idea and may vary greatly by culture and circumstance.

Culture and Religion

• Religion and culture are intertwined; one can serve as a substitute for the other, especially during times of dramatic societal change.
• In the face of perceived religious decline, culture can step in and fill the void, particularly when this culture is seen as a positive replacement.

Explore the evolution of the concept of culture from its agricultural roots to its contemporary interpretations. This quiz delves into the dualities within cultural philosophy, examining the paradox of urban versus rural identities and the transition from material to spiritual significance. Engage with the complexities of culture's impact on humanity's development.