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    UTS Anthropology

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    Anthropology defines the self as not fixed but shaped by culture. The self is influenced by others yet has its own agency, and is experienced through the body and senses. It is defined in relation to others. Anthropologists understand human nature by comparing diverse cultures, seeing how biology and culture both shape behavior. The self develops self-awareness through enculturation, learning the values and norms of its own culture. There are four environmental orientations that help strengthen the self's identity: object, spatial, temporal, and normative. Culture plays a key role in one's self-identity by constituting both the cultural and actual self. Cultural degradation can negatively impact one's sense of self by losing aspects of one's

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    UTS Anthropology

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    jioooonnnn
    6 views2 pages
    Anthropology defines the self as not fixed but shaped by culture. The self is influenced by others yet has its own agency, and is experienced through the body and senses. It is defined in relation to others. Anthropologists understand human nature by comparing diverse cultures, seeing how biology and culture both shape behavior. The self develops self-awareness through enculturation, learning the values and norms of its own culture. There are four environmental orientations that help strengthen the self's identity: object, spatial, temporal, and normative. Culture plays a key role in one's self-identity by constituting both the cultural and actual self. Cultural degradation can negatively impact one's sense of self by losing aspects of one's

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    understanding the self 1

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    UTS-Anthropology

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    Anthropology defines the self as not fixed but shaped by culture. The self is influenced by others yet has its own agency, and is experienced through the body and senses. It is defined in relation to others. Anthropologists understand human nature by comparing diverse cultures, seeing how biology and culture both shape behavior. The self develops self-awareness through enculturation, learning the values and norms of its own culture. There are four environmental orientations that help strengthen the self's identity: object, spatial, temporal, and normative. Culture plays a key role in one's self-identity by constituting both the cultural and actual self. Cultural degradation can negatively impact one's sense of self by losing aspects of one's

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    6 views2 pages

    UTS Anthropology

    Uploaded by

    jioooonnnn
    Anthropology defines the self as not fixed but shaped by culture. The self is influenced by others yet has its own agency, and is experienced through the body and senses. It is defined in relation to others. Anthropologists understand human nature by comparing diverse cultures, seeing how biology and culture both shape behavior. The self develops self-awareness through enculturation, learning the values and norms of its own culture. There are four environmental orientations that help strengthen the self's identity: object, spatial, temporal, and normative. Culture plays a key role in one's self-identity by constituting both the cultural and actual self. Cultural degradation can negatively impact one's sense of self by losing aspects of one's

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    Anthropological Perspective of the Self

    1. What is the role of Anthropology in explaining the human nature? How does it define the self and
    person?

    Anthropology helps us understand human nature by studying different cultures and how they shape
    people’s beliefs, values, and behaviours.

    Self and Person in Anthropology:

    • The self is not fixed but is shaped by culture.

    • The self is both influenced by others and has its own agency.

    • The self is experienced through the body and senses.

    • The self is defined in relation to others.

    Anthropology in explaining Human Nature:

    • Compares diverse cultures across different regions and time periods provides insights into universal
    human traits, such as language, kinship, and socialization that allows anthropologists to identify patterns
    and variations in human behaviour.

    • Holistic approach; Anthropology examines human behaviour in its cultural and environmental context,
    recognizing that human nature is shaped by both biology and culture.

    • Anthropologists immerse themselves in different societies, observing and interacting with people first-
    hand to gain an intimate understanding of their beliefs, values, and practices.

    • Anthropologists argue that human nature is not a fixed entity but rather a cultural construct that varies
    across societies. This perspective challenges the idea of a universal human nature and emphasizes the
    role of culture in shaping human behaviour and identity.

    • Some anthropologists also study how humans have evolved over time to understand how our biology
    and culture have shaped our nature.

    2. How is Self-Awareness defined in Anthropology?

    Self-awareness is defined as the ability to take responsibility for your own actions, learn how to react to
    others, and take on different roles. Children start to develop self-awareness at around the age of two, but
    it can start earlier if they are exposed to a variety of stimuli, such as sleeping with their parents.

    Self-awareness is important for enculturation, which is the process of learning the values and norms of
    your culture. Children learn the values of their culture by observing and imitating the adults in their family.
    As they grow older, they develop their own identity by practicing the common cultures in their
    environment. Naming a person gives them unique traits, experiences, personality, identity, and status.
    The self that bears the name continues to establish an identity of the name in the community.

    3. What are the four(4) environmental orientations that will help the SELF in different behavioral
    conditions? Provide concrete examples each

    Self And Behavioral Environment

    Strengthen the identity of the self can be done by understanding the different behavioral orientations.
    These will help the self in different behavioral conditions. There are four environmental orientations:
    1. Object Orientation

    The person positions itself in relation to the surrounding objects. The self should be able to act
    responsively to the cultural objects around. For example, there are cultural practices in the Philippines as
    to which they respect the trees, the lakes, the falls, and even the animals that surrounds them.

    2. Spatial Orientation

    The person provides itself with personal space in relation to other people or things. For example, in an
    individualistic society where independence is of utmost importance, personal space is greatly
    emphasized.

    3. Temporal Orientation

    The person endows itself with the sense of time. Time is relevant to cultural communities. For
    example, in Filipino philosophy, time is seen as spherical, to where life-events are repeated but
    may not be necessarily the same.

    4. Normative Orientation

    The person provides itself with the grasp of accepted norms in the community. Normative orientation
    provides the self an idea of behaviours which are not acceptable in the community. For
    example, in communities where punctuality is considered a value, being on time is already a
    charitable gesture.

    4. What is the role of culture to one’s self identity?

    The Self Embedded In Culture

    The ability to manage the differences between selves is what makes the self- embedded in culture.
    According to psychological anthropologists, there is a thin line between cultural self and the actual self.

    The cultural self includes all the feelings, thoughts, experiences, biological and psychological
    constitutions, language and memory. While actual self is shaped by these same elements and more.
    Therefore what remains in this distinction is the solid identity of the self in relation to everything else.

    The complexity of cultural identifies of peoples, things, and events shall be recognized and respected by
    the self. The self must remain reflexive of the similarities and unique differences of everything around it.
    This shows that the self should not maintain the individualistic, independent and autonomous entity but
    that the self should be able to maintain his/her culturally reflexive identity in relation to everything and
    everyone else. It is only when the self recognizes the power of culture constituted by every system that
    we can have an effective shaping of social reality.

    5. What is cultural degradation? How does it affect our sense of self?

    Cultural degradation, or cultural genocide, means the loss of a particular culture due to assimilation or
    loss of interest. Assimilation happens when a dominant culture is overshadowing the inferior culture,
    meaning the culture possessed by lesser population living within a community; the inferior culture will
    eventually lose its identity. This can result in a loss of indigenous dialect or forgetting how to perform
    rituals just like how the elders did, or play traditional instruments that were played by indigenous
    musicians, or cook the indigenous delicacies prepared by traditional chefs.

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