SOCA01H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Cultural Relativism, Ethnocentrism, Consumerism
Document Summary
Culture is a share set of symbols and their definitions that ppl create to solve real-life problems. Humans thrive in their environments b/c of their unique ability to generate and use culture: crucial aspects of culture include: Although sociologists recognize that biology sets broad human limits and potentials, most sociologists do not believe that specific human behaviours and social arrangements are biologically determined. In some respects, the development of culture makes ppl freer: as cultures become more diverse and consensus declines, ppl have more choice in how they live. In other respects, the development of culture puts limits on who we can become. High culture: culture consumed mainly by upper classes: opera, ballet, etc . Popular culture (or mass culture): is culture consumed by all classes. Symbols: concrete things or abstract terms that represent something else. Abstraction: the ability to create general concepts that meaningfully organize concrete, sensory experience.
