Lesson 6 Culture

LESSON 6 CULTURE: HOW IT DEFINES MORAL BEHAVIOR
What is Culture?
Culture is derived from the Latin word “cultura” or “cultus” which means care or cultivation.
Culture as cultivation implies that every human being is a potential member of his own social group.
He/she needs other people who can provide him/her with the needed opportunities so he/she can
translate these potentialities into realities called achievements.
Culture is the integrated pattern of human knowledge, beliefs and behavior. This consist of
language, ideas, customs, morals, laws, taboos, institutions, tools, techniques and works of art, rituals
and other capacities and habits acquired by a person as a member of society.
Anthropologist Edward B. Tylor, an Englishman, developed one of the classic definitions of

culture: Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, law, art, moral, custom and
other capabilities and habits acquired as a member of society.”
The Magisterium of the Church explains culture as “the set of means used by mankind to
become more virtuous and reasonable in order to become fully human. It its fullest sense, culture
means opening up to the divine, and ultimately, to a religious dimension.” Based on this Church
definition, it is clear that culture is mean to serve human persons.
Sociologists categorize into material and non-material culture.

Nonmaterial culture – consists of language, values, rules, knowledge and meanings shared by members
of society.
Material culture – is the physical object that a society produces – tools, streets, homes and toys, to
name a few.
Culture is passed on to the next generation by learning not through the genes or heredity.
“Culture” includes all human phenomena which are not purely results of human genetics. Culture is
learned not inherited. It is acquired through enculturation, incuturation and acculturation.
The Human Person and Culture

As a moral agent you are born into a culture, a factual reality you have not chosen. You are not
born nothing. It may be said that the Aristotelico-Thomistic tradition is one dominant, if not the most
dominant culture. This Aristotelico-Thomistic culture is a Greco-Roman culture, which has influenced
and shaped the moral life of those who have been exposed to it. Those who were born into this culture,
educated under this culture, are persuaded that there is God, that a divine order and law keep and
govern the world, which includes you.
Enculturation, Inculturation and Acculturation

Cultures change or evoke. There are various ways by which cultures change – by enculturation,
inculturation and by acculturation.
Enculturation, an anthropological term, was coined by J.M. Herskovits Margaret Mead has, however,
was the one who defined the term as “the process of learning a culture in all its uniqueness and
particularity.
- Is a process of learning from infancy till death, the components of life on one’s culture. The
contents of this learning include both the material and non-material culture. The latter
refers to values while the former refers to tools such as a hoe or mask. In the said process of
learning, a person grows into a culture, acquires competence in that culture and that culture
takes root in that person and becomes the cognitive map, the term of reference for acting.
Inculturation – refers to the “missiological process in which the gospel is rooted in a particular culture
and the latter is transformed by its introduction to Christianity.” In other words, inculturation raises two
related problems, that of the evangelisation of cultures (rooting the Gospel in cultures) and that of the
cultural understanding of the Gospel. It was this movement that led Pope John Paul II to say in 1982,
“The synthesis between culture and faith is not only a requirement of culture, but also of faith…. Faith
that does not become culture is not fully accepted, nor entirely reflected upon, or faithfully experienced.
This means that inculturation is not an action but a process that unfolds over time, one that is active and
based on mutual recognition and dialogue, a critical mind and insight, faithfulness and conversion,
transformation and growth, renewal and innovation.
Acculturation – is the “cultural modification of an individual, group, or people by adapting to or

borrowing traits from another culture.” It is also explained as the merging of cultures as a result of
prolonged contact.
How Culture Shapes the Moral Agent

Culture definitely affects the way we evaluate and judge things.
Culture influences the human person, who is the moral agent.
Culture has a very long lasting hold on an individual.
Culture affects human behavior. Not all cultural practices are morally acceptable. Examples are
the culture of vengeance and low regard for the African women in comparison to the African men.
The Influence of Culture in Moral Development

Culture has been with us since the dawn of human existence. Significant as it is, a culture
considerably shapes its members on how they live and relate within themselves and with other cultures.
At this point let us particularize how culture influences the moral development of the people.
The points below are the following:
1. Culture is always social and communal by which the relationship of the people towards one
another and their experience as a people are the culture’s meadow. It is in this relationship and
communal experience that culture influences the moral development of its members.
2. The culture defines the normative principles and behaviors of the society. It defines which
particular principle and behavior that should be kept that would serve the best interest of the
community.
3. Moreover, a culture, as best exemplified in the experience of the people, develops restrictions
and sets boundaries and limitations as they live and relate with one another. These restrictions
and boundaries serve as protection among themselves.
4. As culture helps in generating the character and identify of its people, it also includes their
moral character. Culture conditions the mind – the way people think and the way they perceive
the world and their relationship with one another.
5. The culture identifies the authorities or the governing individuals or groups. They are the symbol
of guidance and control.

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LESSON 6 CULTURE: HOW IT DEFINES MORAL BEHAVIOR

Anthropologist Edward B. Tylor, an Englishman, developed one of the classic definitions of

Sociologists categorize into material and non-material culture.

The Human Person and Culture

Enculturation, Inculturation and Acculturation

Acculturation – is the “cultural modification of an individual, group, or people by adapting to or

How Culture Shapes the Moral Agent

The Influence of Culture in Moral Development

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