term culture is characterized by ambiguity, and is used to define the processes of spiritual, intellectual, aesthetic development;forms and products of spiritual, intellectual and artistic activities;describe the state of a society based on procedure, and humanitarian law.
concept of culture in sociology very broad, it involves studying her in a variety of these aspects.
concept of culture in sociology different researchers differ on a number of characteristics, which creates prerequisites for the isolation of the following approaches to its definition.
technological approach considers culture in the broadest sense as a separate level of production and reproduction of all levels of public life in all its proivleniyah.Activity approach - as a collection of different shapes and types of spiritual and material activities and results of this activity.Value approach - as a sphere of spiritual life in which culture is a system of values, standards and beliefs, as well as means of expression of these values.An integrated approach believes that culture consists of the explicit and implicit patterns of human behavior that are generated and transmitted by means of symbols, and the essence of her ideas are traditional values that have passed the selection of historical time.
concept of culture in sociology and its role, place in people's lives has different directions by two trends.The first approach on this issue - evolutionary (Johann Gottfried Herder).It is considered the culture as a decisive factor improvement and evolution of man, that is able to transform it into a creative and harmonious being.The second approach - critical.He interprets culture as a special means of enslaving man and sustained its transformation into an instrument of forces hostile to man.
leading sociologists examined the concept of culture as follows.Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed that life in the lap of nature is the only correct one, and it perverts the culture.Friedrich Nietzsche wrote that man is essentially uncultured, and the culture is intended for his enslavement and oppression of natural forces.
Oswald Spengler believed that each culture has its own destiny, which ends with the development of civilization.Tennis Ferdinand brought the theory of the impossibility of opposing cultures and civilizations.José Ortega y Gasset is the author of the tradition of cultural pessimism, which means that a person is a member of the masses and his gregarious behavior.The crisis of contemporary civilization is linked to the masses in the culture.
Russian researchers of culture interpreted the concept of culture in sociology twofold.On the one hand, the tradition developed the theory of evolution, according to which the progress of society is determined by the development of culture), and on the other - criticism.
elements of culture in sociology allocated as follows: values, language, norms, customs, traditions and customs.The most productive elements of culture - a concept or concepts (that organize the world of men), the ratio (allocate the links between people), values (show people's beliefs) and rules (regulate people's behavior).
kinds of culture in sociology are the following, depending on certain criteria.
Regional or geography: the culture of the West, East, Europe, Africa, America, etc.
By chronological basis: ancient culture, the culture of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, modern and contemporary.
By type of social production: the material (all that relates to the human environment and to meet its needs, the technological side of life, the means of production, tools, power structures, political parties, etc.), spiritual (includes subjective aspects,installation, ideas, values and output of these models of behavior) and social (human relations, status, social institutions).
