Module 4-5: Culture and Moral Behavior PDF

Module 4-5 Culture and Moral Behavior/Cultural Ms. Maria Linda C.Verdadero Relativism/Personal Instructor Alienation Module Duration: September 16- 27, 2024...

Module 4-5 Culture and Moral Behavior/Cultural Ms. Maria Linda C.Verdadero Relativism/Personal Instructor Alienation Module Duration: September 16- 27, 2024 GE004 Ethics with Peace Studies  MODULE 3-5: Culture/Cultural Relativism/Personal Alienation/The Filipino Way LEARNING OBJECTIVES At the end of the module, you are expected to: 1. Articulate what culture means 2. Attribute facets of personal behavior to culture. 3. Recognize differences in moral behavior of different culture 4. Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of cultural relativism. 5. Analyze crucial qualities of the Filipino moral identity in their own moral experiences. 6. Evaluate elements that need to be changed. 7. Describe personal alienation and its cycle. CULTURE "Culture is the acquired knowledge people use to interpret experience and generate behavior." - James Spradley, Anthropologist Introduction: The English word ‘Culture’ is derived from the Latin term ‘cult or cultus’ meaning tilling, or cultivating or refining and worship. In sum it means cultivating and refining a thing to such an extent that its end product evokes our admiration and respect. Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate") generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance and importance. Cultures can be "understood as systems of symbols and meanings that even their creators contest, that lack fixed boundaries, that are constantly in flux, and that interact and compete with one another." INPUT INFORMATION Culture can be defined as all the ways of life including arts, beliefs and institutions of a population that are passed down from generation to generation. Culture has been called "the way of life for an entire society." As such, it includes codes of manners, dress, language, religion, rituals, art. norms of behavior, such as law and morality, and systems of belief. What is culture? Before going on, perform the activity below  Answer the diagnostic activities below to check on what you know about the topic. Have fun and good luck! Activity 1 Picture Analysis Directions: Write your impression/s about the pictures/images below. Use separate sheet for your answer. (Students answer will be discussed thru participation during discussion/recitation) WHAT IS CULTURE? Culture describes a collective way of life, or way of doing things. It is the sum of attitudes, values, goals, and practices shared by individuals in a group, organization, or society. Cultures vary over time periods, between countries and geographic regions, and among groups and organizations. Culture reflects the moral and ethical beliefs and standards that speak to how people should behave and interact with others. Cultural norms are the shared, sanctioned, and integrated systems of beliefs and practices that are passed down through generations and characterize a cultural group. Norms cultivate reliable guidelines for daily living and contribute to the health and well-being of a culture. They act as prescriptions for correct and moral behavior, lend meaning and coherence to life, and provide a means of achieving a sense of integrity, safety, and belonging. These normative beliefs, together with related cultural values and rituals, impose a sense of order and control on aspects of life that might otherwise appear chaotic or unpredictable. This is where culture intersects with ethics. Since interpretations of what is moral are influenced by cultural norms, the possibility exists that what is ethical to one group will not be considered so by someone living in a different culture. Culture is social and communal in character where the people established and develop their relationships with each other and learned from their experiences with them in the community. Laws, norms, values, and attitudes serve as a binding force to enhance their relationships. Norms such as in greetings,family structures, table manners, gender roles, personal space, social hierarchy, Passion, religion, language, and public behavior. Culture provides us with ideas, ideals and values to lead a decent life. In general, culture is a term used by social scientists, like anthropologists and sociologists, to encompass all the facets of human experience that extend beyond our physical fact. It simply refers to the way we understand ourselves both as individuals and as members of society, and includes stories, religion, media, rituals, and even language itself. Irrespective of the various definitions, conceptions and approaches to the understanding of the concept of culture, it is however agreed that culture is a way of life and morality is a part of culture. Practically all modern definitions share key features. Culture has different characteristics. It can be acquired, lost or shared. It is cumulative. It is dynamic, diverse and gives us a range of permissible behaviour-pattern. It can change. Culture includes both material and non-material components. In deeper sense it is culture that produces the kind of literature, music, dance, sculpture, architecture and various other art forms as well as the many organizations and structures that make the functioning of the society smooth and well-ordered. CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE From the Perspective of Sociologists  Dynamic, flexible and adaptive - Culture necessarily changes, and is changes by, a variety of interactions, with individuals, media, and technology, just to name a few. - Cultures interact and change. Most societies interact with other societies, and as a consequence their cultures interact that lead to exchanges of material (e. tools and furniture) and non-material (ex. Ideas and symbols) components of culture. - All cultures change, or else, they would have problems adjusting and adapting to changing environment.. - Culture is adaptive and dynamic, once we recognize problems, culture can adapt again, in a more positive way, to find solutions. - We need our cultural skills to stay alive.  Shared and maybe challenged - (Given the reality of social differentiation), as we share culture with others, we are able to act in a appropriate ways as well as predict how other will act. - It may be challenged by the presence of other cultures and other social forces in society like modernization, industrialization, and globalization.  Learned through socialization or enculturation - Culture is not biological, people do not inherit it but learned as interact in society. Much of learning culture is unconscious. People learn, absorb and acquire culture from families, friends, institutions, and the media. The process of learning culture is enculturation.  Patterned social interactions - Culture as a normative system has the capacity to define and control human behaviors. - Norms for example) are cultural expectations in terms of how one will think, feel, or behave as set by ones culture.It sets the patterns in terms of what is appropriate or inappropriate in a given setting. - Human interactions are guided by some forms of standards and expectations which in the end regularize it.  Transmitted through socialization or enculturation - As we share our culture with others, we are able to pass it on to the new members of society or the younger generation in different ways. - In the process of socialization / enculturation, we were able to teach them about many things in life and equip them with the culturally acceptable ways of surviving, competing, and making meaningful interaction with others in society.  Requires language and other forms of communication - In the process of learning and transmitting culture, symbols and language are needed to communicate with others in society (Arcinas, 2016). CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE From the Perspective of Anthropologists  Learned - Culture is learned, as each person must learn how to “be” a member of that culture. - Culture is acquired by being born into a particular society in the process of enculturation. Through language, the cultural traits of society are passed on to younger members in the process of growing up and through teaching. - Every human generation potentially can discover new things and invent better technologies. The new cultural skills and knowledge are added onto what was learned in previous generations.  Symbolic - Culture is symbolic, as it based on the manipulation of symbols. - Culture renders meaning to what people do. Beliefs, religion, rituals, myths, dances, performances, music, artworks, sense of taste, education, innovations, identity, ethnicity, and so on are meaningful human expressions of what people do and how they act.  Systemic and integrated - Culture is systemic and integrated as the parts of culture work together in an integrated whole. - The systems of meanings and many other facets (sides) of culture such as kindred, religion, economic activities, inheritance, and political process, do not function in isolation but an integrated whole that makes society work. - These varying systems of meanings, relations and purposes are shared within a group of people rendering culture bounded to those who seek a sense of belonging to the same society.  Shared - Culture is shared, as it offers all people ideas about behavior. - Since culture is shared within exclusive domains of social relations, societies operate differently from each other leading for cultural variations. Even culture is bounded, it does not mean that there are no variations in how people act and relate with each other within a given system of their respective societies. - Societies do not always exist independently from each other.  Encompassing - Culture covers every feature of humanity. Around the world, people as members of their own societies establish connections with each other and form relationship guided by their respective cultural practices and values. - Edward Tylor defines culture as a complex whole which encompasses beliefs, practices, traits, values, attitudes, laws, norms, artifacts, symbols, knowledge, and everything that a person learns and shares as a member of society (David and Macaraeg, 2012) Importance/Functions of Culture Sociologist recognize and regard culture as one of the most important c o n c e p t s w i t h i n s o c i o l o g y b e c a u s e i t p l a y s a v i t a l r o l e i n o u r s o c i a l l i v e s. I t i s e s s e n t i a l for shaping social relationships, maintaining and challenging social order,d e t e r m i n i n g h ow w e ma k e s e ns e o f th e w o r l d a n d o u r p la c e i n i t , an d i n sh a p i n g o u r everyday actions and experiences in society. Moreover, culture is important to sociologists b e c a u s e i t p l a y s a s i gn i f i ca n t a n d i mp o r t a nt r o l e i n t h e p r o d uc t i o n of social order. The social order refers to the stability of society based on the collective agreement to rules and norms that allow us to cooperate, function as a society, and live together (ideally) in peace and harmony (Cole, 2019). In the book of (David and Macaraeg, 2010), the following functions of culture were given emphasis: ( 1 ) it serves as the “trademark” of the people in the society; (2) it gives meaning and direction to one’s existence; (3) i t p r o m o t e s m e a n i n g t o i n d i v i d u a l ' s existence; (4) it predicts social behavior; ( 5 ) it unifies diverse behavior ( 6 ) i t p r o v id e s s oc i a l s ol i d a r it y ; ( 7 ) i t e s t a bl i s h e s s o c i a l p e r s on a l i t y; (8) i t p r o vi d e s sy s t e m a ti c b e h av i o r a l p a t t er n ; (9) i t p r o v id e s s oc i a l st r u c t u re c a t e go r y ; (10) i t m a i n t ai n s the biologic functioning of the group; (11) it offers ready-made solutions to man’s material and immaterial problems; and (12) it develops man’s attitude and values and gives him a conscience Elements of Culture 1. Symbols r e f e r s t o a ny t h i n g t h a t is u s e d t o s t an d f or s o m e t h in g e l s e. I t is a n y th i n g that gives meaning to the culture. People who share a culture often attach a specific meaning to an object, gesture, sound, or image. An example o f w h i c h a r e t h e f e as t s w e a r e c el e b r a ti ng. 2. L a n g u a g e is known as the storehouse of culture (Arcinas, 2016). It system of words and symbols used to communicate with other people. We have a lot of dialects in the Philippines that provide a means of understanding. Through these, culture is hereby transmitted to future generation through learning(David and Macaraeg, 2010). 3.Technology r e f e r s t o t h e a p p l i c at i o n of k n o w le dg e a n d e q ui p m e n t t o e a s e t h e t a s k o f l i vi n g a n d m a i n t ai n i n g t h e e n vi r o n m e nt ; i t i n cl u d e s a r t i f ac t s , methods and devices created and used by people (Arcinas, 2016). 4. V a l u e s ar e culturally defined standards for what is good or desirable. Values determine how individuals will probably respond in any given circumstances.M e m b e r s o f t h e cu l t u r e u s e t he s h a r ed s y s t em o f va l u e s to d e c i d e what is g o o d a n d w h a t i s b a d. T h i s a l s o r e f e r s t o t h e a b s t r a c t c o n c e p t o f w h a t i s i m p o r t a n t and worth while (David and Macaraeg, 2010). 5. B e l i e f s refers to the faith of an individual ( David and Macaraeg, 2010). They are conceptions or ideas of people have about what is true in the environment a r o u n d t h e m l i k e w ha t i s l i f e , h o w t o v a l u e i t a n d h o w o n e' s b e l i e d o n t h e v al u e o f l i f e re l a t e w i t h hi s o r he r i n te r a c t io n w i t h ot h e r s an d t h e w o r l d. T h e s e m a y b e b a s ed o n c o m m o n s e ns e , f ol k w i s do m , r el i g i o n, s c i e nc e o r a c o m b i n a ti o n o f a l l of t h e s e. ( A r ci n a s , 2 0 1 6 ) 6.Normsare specific rules to guide for appropriate behavior ( A r c i n a s , 2 0 1 6 ). T h e s e a r e s o c i e t a l e x p e c t a t i o n s t h a t m a n d a t e s p e c i f i c behaviors in specific situations (David and Macaraeg, 2010). Like in school, we are expected to behave in a particular way. I f v i o l a t e n o r m s , w e l o o k d i f f e r e n t. T h u s , w e c a n b e c a ll e d a s s o c i al d e v i an t s. Fo r e x a mp l e , Fil i p i n o m a l e s a r e e x p e c te d t o we a r p an t s , n ot s k i rt s a n d f e m a l e s ar e e x p ec t e d t o h a v e a l o n g h a i r n ot a sh o r t o n e l i k e t h a t o f m al e s. S oc i a l no r m s a re i n d ee d very essential in understanding the nature of man’s social relationship Types of Culture : a. Proscriptive norm defines and tells us things not to do b. Prescriptive norm defines and tells us things to do Forms:/ Types of Norms; a. F o l k w a y s ar e a l so k n o w n a s c u st o m s (c u s t o m ar y/ r e p e t i t iv e w a ys o f o f d o i n g t h i n g s) t h e y a r e f or ms o f n o r m s f o r e v e r y da y b e h av i o r th a t p e op l e f ol l o w for t h e s a ke o f tr a d i t i on o r co n v e n i en c e. Breaking them does not usually have serious consequences. We have certain customs t h a t w e r e p a s s e d o n b y o u r f o r e b e a r s t h a t m a k e u p a l a r g e p a r t o f o u r d a y t o d a y existence and we do not question their practicality. Since they are being practiced, it is expected that we do them also. F o r e x a m p l e , we Filipinos eat with our bear hands. b. M o r e s a r e strict norms that control moral and ethical behavior;they are based on definitions of right and wrong (Arcinas, 2016). They are norms also but with moral undertones (David and Macaraeg, 2010). For example, since our country Philippines C h r i s t i a n n a ti o n , w e a r e e xp e c t e d t o p ra c t i c e m on o g a m o u s m a r r ia g e. S o i f a p e r s o n w h o h a s t w o o r m or e p a rt n e r s is l o o ke d u p o n a s i m mo r a l. P o l y a m y is c o n s id e r e d t a b o o in P h i li p p i n e s s o c i ety. c. L a w s a r e controlled ethics and they are morally agreed, written down and enforced by an official law enforcement agency (Arcinas, 2016) T h e y a r e i n s t i t ut i o n a li z e d n or m s a nd m o r e s that were enacted by the state to ensure stricter punishment in o r d e r f o r t h e pe o p l e to a d h e re t o th e s t a nd a r d s se t b y s o c i e t y (David and Macaraeg, 2010) Two Components of Culture ( facets of culture): 1. Material Culture - consist of tangible things or is the physical or manufactured objects that a society produces - tools, streets, automobiles, road, homes and toys, temples, mosques. All these physical aspects of a culture help to define its members’ behaviors and perceptions. 2. Non- Material culture - consist intangible or the non physical ideas that people have about their culture such as of language, values, rules, the ideas, customs, beliefs, knowledge and learning shared by members of society. When consisting How does culture define Moral Behavior? One of the revered founders of Western philosophy - Plato in his famous philosophical work, The Republic cited three critical elements that jointly influence the human persons moral development. These elements are native traits ( or what we might call genetic characteristics); early childhood experience; and one’s cultural surroundings (Pekasrky, 1998). Plato implied that if a person’s cultural surroundings reward conformity to agreeable norms it would lead the person to behave much better and quell undesirable conduct. He also expressed that the power of culture over an individual is more potent in children because they do not have a pre-existing values. The child’s cultural surrounding create these values and dispositions. Thus, Plato insisted that a child’s cultural surrounding should “express the image of a noble character” that role models should display the conduct of a proper human being because the behavior of the adults serves as the child’s moral foundation as he or she grows and debelops (Comford, 1966; Pekarsky, 1998) As a moral agent you are born into a culture, a factual reality you have not chosen. You are born nothing.