SOC 105 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Cultural Relativism, Dominant Ideology, Cultural Diversity
17 Oct 2016
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Document Summary
Week 2: human behaviour is shaped by the interaction of variety of biological, psychological and social elements. Sociologists reject determinist arguments that suggest human behaviour is biologically, or genetically pre-programmed. What is culture: culture refers to the totality of the various material and non-material aspects of human existence. Symbolic aspects of culture: human beings live in a world not just of objects and action but of meaning. The human world is symbolic: language: a system of symbols with standard meanings that allows members of a society to communicate with one another. Sapir and whorf hypothesis: language is culturally determined and shapes how we see the reality. Values and norms: values: the standards by which members of a culture define right or wrong, what is desirable or undesirable. Through values culture gives shape to our lives: norms: relatively precise rules that guide or regulate social life.
