According to Stephen Tyler, Clifford Geertz, and Kottak
According to Stephen Tyler, culture is a complex combination of arts, customs, traditions, law, morals, knowledge, beliefs, and other habits that the members of a given society or community acquire. On the other hand, Clifford Geertz defined culture as a form of conception that people inherit from their parents and is indicated in symbols. It also determines how people develop attitude and ideas related to life. Lastly, Kottak defined culture as behaviors acquired by a given community (Kottak 48). This paper discusses the different definitions of culture as defined by Kottak, Tyler, and Geertz.
Various Definitions of Culture
People define the term "culture" in various ways. For instance, some people see culture as the act of appreciating good food, literature, and music. Biologists, on the other hand, define culture as a group of microorganisms or bacteria. The definition becomes different in the anthropology context. Both behavioral scientists and anthropologists all over the world agreed to define culture as a group of patterns and learned behavior. According to the anthropologist, culture is the entire combination of beliefs, law, arts, customs, morals, and beliefs that people acquire in the society. Tyler's definition of culture is similar to Kottak's. Kottak argued that culture is an adaption for everyone in a given society to fit into the system. It is a complex whole, a system containing different elements like custom, arts, dressing, morals, law, etc. However, Clifford Geertz gave a different definition. He claimed that people learn culture in unique ways and that learning a given culture requires one to accumulate knowledge relating to different experiences by use of symbols. Geertz believed that culture is a group of concepts that requires the use of symbols and learning. The anthropologist used metaphors and rhetoric in defining culture.
The Importance of Culture
Human beings need culture for continuity and survival. However, culture is easily compromised and dynamic because it changes in many ways over time. Since culture is a mental idea, people tend to lose it when influenced by another phenomenon, e.g. civilization compromised the primitive culture as people accepted formal education and European lifestyle (Delaney, Carol, and Deborah 67). Examples of features that define the culture of a given group of people include writing styles, fashion, architecture, governments, languages, food, etc. Anthropologists cannot bring back a past or compromised culture. The only bit they can do is digging up artifacts used by a given community to understand the past culture. Like other animals, human beings have to teach their young ones to behave in a certain way so that they can survive (Kottak 42). For instance, male chimpanzees have to learn how they can protect their families and hunt for food while the female ones have to use symbols and learn how to take care of the children. Culture also helps in determining the difference among various communities during their interactions (Jahoda 291).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the reading of Chapter Two of Kottak book, "Anthropology: appreciating human diversity," has changed my own understanding of culture by informing me about its importance for the continuity and survival of people. Therefore, culture cannot be produced by lone persons, but must involve a group of people. Culture steadily and gradually evolves as people continue with their interaction as they share their expectations and customs. The function of symbols as explained by Geertz is that they guide action as culture gives the real meaning of life and the world as a whole.
Works cited
Delaney, Carol, and Deborah Kaspin. Investigating culture: An experiential introduction to anthropology. John Wiley & Sons, 2017.
Jahoda, Gustav. “Critical reflections on some recent definitions of “culture.” Culture and Psychology 18.3 (2012): 289-303.
Kottak, Conrad Phillip. Anthropology: appreciating human diversity. McGraw-Hill, 2010
