On the Culture Concept

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Margaret Alice Moore (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/

Abstract: The culture concept has been called one of the most important, if not the most important, concept in the social sciences today. Such learned men as Harry Elmer Barnes, Stuart Chase, Ralph Linton, Melville Herskovits, and Clark Wissler have been influenced by it. Men for centuries have theorized about the societal forces which influenced them. They have wondered, also, how their personalities came to be what they were, and they have had many explanations for why things were as they were. One of the earliest of those was that of magic; another, going hand in hand with the first, was evil spirits; and there were numerous others. Especially prominent theories were founded on the Economic Man and the Natural Man. The first of these was prompted by purely material causes; the latter, by his instincts.1 Travelers, upon returning to their own countries, would bring strange tales of customs entirely different from those which existed in their homelands, but these differences were held to be caused by the unlike biological make-up, so they in no way affected the theories, although the word "culture* was used in connection with the ways of life of primitive tribes, it was not until 1876 that the distinctive nature of "culture" was pointed out.2

Additional Information

Publication
Honors Project
Language: English
Date: 1949

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