Culture definitions,types and characteristics of culture

• Culture
1 “Culture implies man’s moral ,spiritual and intellectual achievements”
- Sorokin and Maciver
 Explanation:-Here they define culture as an amalgam of man’s moral, spiritual and intellectual behavior as well as their achievements.

2. ‘Culture is that complex whole that consists of everything we think, do and have as members of society”
- Bierstedt
 Explanation: Bierstedt is of the opinion that culture is nothing but what we think, do as members of society that means what we think and do as social beings, it becomes culture.
3. “culture is the expression of our nature in our mode of living and thinking in our everyday intercourse in art, in literature, in religion, in reactions and enjoyments”
- Maciver
 Explanation: According to maciver culture is the way of life which consists of the customs and beliefs, art ,way of life and social organization of particular country or group. It is reflection such things through which we can identify the culture of any group.
4. “Culture is the foundation, the primary thing. It should show itself in smallest detail of your conduct and personal behavior”
- Gandhiji
 Explanation: Gandhiji considers culture as the primary thing which present minor detail of our conduct and personal behavior that means it identifies our way of life in a broader sense.

5.“Culture is the widening of the mind and the spirit”
- Jawaharlal Nehru
 Explanation:- In the words of Nehruji culture presents the thinking and philosophy of people. In a broder sense culture depends on people’s way of thinking and their behavior. Here the word ‘spirit’ suggests that the valuable culture of Indian society self –actualization which express through culture of Indian society likewise every country or nation has particular culture which reveals the way of thinking of people and their interaction with won soul.

 Kinds/ types of culture
 Culture is classified on the basis of the subject and contents that means there are mainly two classification.
 1 subject-based classification
 2 Content-based classification
 1 subject-based classification
 Individual culture
 Communal culture
 National culture
 World culture
 2 Content-based classification
 Material culture
 Non-material culture
Characteristics of culture

The following are the characteristics of culture
1] Acquired traits
Culture is the sum total of acquired qualities /characteristics traits].The new born baby is devoid of any traits. As he grows older, he acquires different ideals, attitudes and values by imitation and social contracts. These experiences contribute to the formation of his personal culture.
2] Distinct entity
A thing which exists independently
Different societies of the world have their mown distinct/definite cultural patterns which establish the different identifies of different nations. And culture is nothing but the expression of distinct cultural patterns of societies.
3] Transmission
Cultural traits and patterns are transmitted from generation to generation. Every generation is free to modify the cultural heritage and then transmits it to the next generation. Thus culture is affected by the trends which appear from time to time according to different circumstances and conditions. In short, transmission is a continuing process.
4] Utility
A culture is good if it has some utility to the individual as well as to the society. Individual adopt different opinions ideas, way of life from different culture with which they are living.
Every individual has his own way of thinking as snobs which directly affect their culture. Thus people modify their culture and then transmit it top the next generation. They accept culture of different people such as happen in our Indian society. This vitality and welcoming attitude can promote the development of world culture which leads to the international brotherhood. This is the utility of culture.
5] Dynamism
Culture is not static but dynamic In other words, it changes and growsDue to rapid rise in the means of transport and communication a culture invades the other culture. It penetrates , inter penetrates, changes and grows. That is why, our modern Indian culture is not that old culture which guided the nation of the world in the past.On ecan notice the fast changing pattern of our cultural beliefe, ideals, values,modes of thinking and behavior.Thew different culture of the world are interacting among themselves and thus a synthesis of culture is going on in this modern world. So, culture is abstract, indefinite in terms of the components values, behavior tradition and kife styles. Etc….
New point
Diference between culture and civilization
Civilization is a term which includes a society, its culture and its way of life during a particular period of time or in a particular part of the world. It is broader than culture .Culture is the combination of way of life, custom and beliefs, art and social organization of a particular group. Culture is a part of civilization .IT is a narrow term.