Culture refers to the practices of exchanging information across generations and peers by means that are not genetic. It includes behavior and symbolic systems.
The way we use the term is a recent invention. Before the 1800s, culture typically referred to the educational process a person had undergone.

Describing culture

Cultural relativists claim that no culture has a truer worldview than any other - they are just different.
The anthropological conception of culture is the most productive terrain for cultural relativism. For example, some societies have a clear-cut gender and racial division, while others do not.

Culture and Relativism

To study culture, you have to distance yourself from it, which means the only way to study a culture is by not sharing it. The study of culture ask difficult questions about human nature:
<ul>
<li>To what extend can you really understand yourself?</li>
<li>To what extent can a society assess its own practices?</li>
<li>What grounds does the anthropologist have to better understand the dynamics of a society than the members of the society themselves?</li>
</ul>

Studying culture raises difficult questions

<figure><img src="https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/-YeK8JkQY10KOWhUFOLN8to9Sb0=/768x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/holi-festival-in-india-56a8720a5f9b58b7d0f2a028.jpg" srcset="https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/MAAS4SQrZwNuprGlyCzq_KM0Bps=/300x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/holi-festival-in-india-56a8720a5f9b58b7d0f2a028.jpg 300w, https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/Qn67-tchN-wXVuHCfDnOJO2lCX0=/417x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/holi-festival-in-india-56a8720a5f9b58b7d0f2a028.jpg 417w, https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/czU_lTXvIC2ofzhCodq4Sidqtlw=/534x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/holi-festival-in-india-56a8720a5f9b58b7d0f2a028.jpg 534w, https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/-YeK8JkQY10KOWhUFOLN8to9Sb0=/768x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/holi-festival-in-india-56a8720a5f9b58b7d0f2a028.jpg 768w" alt="Holi Festival of Colors India" width="721" height="481"><figcaption dir="auto">India Photography/Getty Images</figcaption></figure><h2 dir="ltr"> <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-multiculturalism-4689285" dir="ltr">Multiculturalism</a> </h2>The idea of culture, most notably in connection with the phenomenon of <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/globalization-positive-and-negative-1434946" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" data-ordinal="1" dir="ltr">globalization</a>, has given rise to the concept of multiculturalism. In one way or other, a large part of the contemporary world population lives in more than one culture, be it because of the exchange of culinary techniques, or musical knowledge, or fashion ideas, and so on.<h2 dir="ltr"> How to Study a Culture? </h2>One of the most intriguing philosophical aspects of culture is the methodology by means of which its specimens have been and are studied. It seems, in fact, that in order to study a culture one has to remove herself from it, which in some sense it means that the only way to study a culture is by not sharing it. The study of culture poses thus one of the hardest questions with respect to human nature: to what extent can you really understand yourself? To what extent can a society assess its own practices? If the capacity of self-analysis of an individual or a group is limited, who is entitled to a better analysis and why? Is there a point of view, which is best suited for the study of an individual or a society? It is no accident, one could argue, that cultural anthropology developed at a similar time at which psychology and sociology also flourished. All three disciplines, however, seem to potentially suffer from a similar defect: a weak theoretical foundation concerning their respective relationship with the object of study. If in psychology it seems always legitimate to ask on which grounds a professional has a better insight into a patient’s life than the patient herself, in cultural anthropology one could ask on what grounds the anthropologists can better understand the dynamics of a society than the members of the society themselves. How to study a culture? This is still an open question. To date, there certainly are several instances of research that try and address the questions raised above by means of sophisticated methodologies. And yet the foundation seems to be still in need of being addressed, or re-addressed, from a philosophical point of view.

The ability to transmit information across generations and peers by means other than genetic exchange is a key trait of the human species.

philosophy

Philosophy

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

communication

Communication

artsandculture

Society, Arts & Culture

The idea of culture, most notably in connection with the phenomenon of <a data-component="link" data-ordinal="1" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" dir="ltr" href="https://www.thoughtco.com/globalization-positive-and-negative-1434946">globalization </a>, has given rise to the concept of multiculturalism. In one way or other, a large part of the contemporary world population lives in more than one culture , be it because of the exchange of culinary techniques, or musical knowledge, or fashion ideas, and so on.

One of the most intriguing philosophical aspects of culture is the methodology by means of which its specimens have been and are studied. It seems, in fact, that in order to study a culture one has to remove herself from it, which in some sense it means that the only way to study a culture is by not sharing it. The study of culture poses thus one of the hardest questions with respect to human nature: to what extent can you really understand yourself? To what extent can a society assess its own practices? If the capacity of self-analysis of an individual or a group is limited, who is entitled to a better analysis and why? Is there a point of view, which is best suited for the study of an individual or a society? It is no accident, one could argue, that cultural anthropology developed at a similar time at which psychology and sociology also flourished. All three disciplines, however, seem to potentially suffer from a similar defect: a weak theoretical foundation concerning their respective relationship with the object of study. If in psychology it seems always legitimate to ask on which grounds a professional has a better insight into a patient’s life than the patient herself, in cultural anthropology one could ask on what grounds the anthropologists can better understand the dynamics of a society than the members of the society themselves. How to study a culture? This is still an open question. To date, there certainly are several instances of research that try and address the questions raised above by means of sophisticated methodologies. And yet the foundation seems to be still in need of being addressed, or re-addressed, from a philosophical point of view.

Philosophy of Culture Meaning

Describing culture

Culture and Relativism

Studying culture raises difficult questions

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