Ruth Benedict Essay - 1093 Words

Ruth Benedict Ruth Benedict’s anthropological book, Patterns of Culture explores the dualism of culture and personality. Benedict studies different cultures such as the Zuni tribe and the Dobu Indians. Each culture she finds is so different and distinctive in relation to the norm of our society. Each difference is what makes it unique. Benedict compares the likenesses of culture and individuality, â€Å"A culture, like an individual, is a more or less consistent pattern of thought or action† (46), but note, they are not the same by use of the word, â€Å"like.† Benedict is saying that figuratively, cultures are like personalities. Culture and individuality are intertwined and dependent upon each other for survival. The Zuni’s, according to†¦show more content†¦When an entire people only care about himself or herself, what becomes of the whole? Perhaps what Benedict is trying to assert is that culture and personality are not the same, nor are they different. A p ersonality is shaped by the culture in which it is born into. A culture is shaped by the repeated ceremonies, traditions, beliefs, and ideals performed by the individuals in the community over time: No individual can arrive at the threshold of his potentialities without a culture in which he participates. Conversely, no civilization has in it any element that the last analysis is not the contribution of an individual. Where else could any trait come from except from the behaviour of a man or a woman or a child? (253) What Benedict is saying here is that an individual can never discover the depths of himself or herself without the scrutiny of a culture as a guideline. For if he has no culture, he has no way of measurement! Likewise, culture cannot exist if it does not reap from the actions and behavior of human beings. In other words, individual personality and culture cannot exist solely without another. Culture and personality work together in unison in a process of giving-and-taking. According to Benedict, it is not important to stress what sets culture and individual apart. It is important to concentrate on what it is that brings them together, â€Å"It is always a give-and-take. The problem of the individual is notShow MoreRelatedRuth Fulton Benedict Essay2030 Words   |  9 PagesConsidered a pioneer in her time, Ruth Fulton Benedict was an American anthropologist who helped to popularize anthropology while introducing such terms as culture and racism into common place language. As an advo cate against discriminatory attitudes, Benedict advocated for tolerance and individuality within social norms and expectations and sought to determine that each culture has its own moral imperatives. Considered her most famous written work, Patterns of Culture, Benedict explores the differences betweenRead MoreRuth Benedict1108 Words   |  5 PagesRuth Benedicts anthropological book, Patterns of Culture explores the dualism of culture and personality. Benedict studies different cultures such as the Zuni tribe and the Dobu Indians. Each culture she finds is so different and distinctive in relation to the norm of our society. Each difference is what makes it unique. Benedict compares the likenesses of culture and individuality, A culture, like an individual, is a more or less consistent pattern of thought or action (46), but note, theyRead MoreRuth Benedict813 Words   |  4 PagesAre Ethics Relative? Ruth Benedict: Ethics Are Relative ID # : 0804014743 â€Å"Ruth Benedict: Ethics Are Relative †¦ Morality is culturally relative.† In this paper, I’m going to discuss the argument that the famous American anthropologist, Ruth Benedict, has put forth regarding ‘ethical relativism’. Ethical relativism is the theory that holds that morality is relative to the norms and values of ones culture or society. That is, whether an action is classified as right or wrong depends on the moralRead MoreIs Ruth F Benedict?1946 Words   |  8 PagesRuth F Benedict, one of the first scholars to use the term â€Å"racism† defines it as â€Å"the dogma that one ethnic group is condemned by nature to congenital inferiority and another group is defined to congenital superiority†. Essentially racism is the prejudice and ignorance within individuals that causes them to judge others based on the way they â€Å"look†. Since the early times of Australia, this country has been home to various ethnicities such as the Dutch, British, Chinese and Indians. Although theseRead MoreThe Culture And Concept Of Culture1665 Words   |  7 Pagesparticular approach. I would also like to examine how the current time period in which the cultural relativist approach emerged truly conflicts with the dominant politics. In specifics, I would like to examine Franz Boas himself, but most notably Ruth Benedict, and the paradoxes that have occurred within the period after her publications. Franz Boas (1858-1942) was a famous anthropologist credited with the founding of the cultural relativist approach, which is a major theory within the discipline ofRead MoreFranz Boas : Cultural Anthropology Essay817 Words   |  4 Pagesleft behind no grant theories or left behind and momentous work, he can easily have been called one of the greatest and most pivotal figures in what anthropology is today. Ruth Benedict was one of the people who studied under Franz Boas and eventually inherited his chair at Columbia University. In Patterns of Culture Benedict expresses her shared belief in cultural relativism and uses the Kwakiutl of the Northwest in an attempt to show that each culture has its own moral imperatives that can be understoodRead MoreMorality Essay565 Words   |  3 PagesMorality Is morality relative? Ruth Benedict and James Rachels have opposing views on this conroversial question. Benedict, a foremost American anthropologist who taught at Columbia University (Pojman 370) believes that morality is relative to ones culture and that ones behavior which is deemed moral or immoral is dependent upon cultural norms. Her argument is as such: 1. Different cultures have radically different moral codes 2. There are no objective moral principles i.e. allRead MoreThe Cultural Anthropology : Margaret Mead890 Words   |  4 PagesFranz Boas anthropology classroom Mead decided to become an anthropologist. Soon after wanting to be an anthropologist she received her doctorate at Columbia. She worked along side Franz Boas her mentor in decided to become an anthropologist and Ruth Benedict. Her first work as an anthropologist was in 1925-she set out for the American Samoa. Her main focus in observing the American Samoa was on adolescent girls. She was with them for about a year then went off to an island in New Guinea. Her main focusRead MoreGed 210 Unit 1 Examination Answers960 Words   |  4 Pagesparticular kind of behavior. †¢ values that are accepted by every human society. †¢ a given society’s rules for right and wrong behavior. †¢ individuals who look like the majority of people. 1. In her classic work Patterns of Culture (1934), Ruth Benedict used the terms â€Å"apollonian† and â€Å"dionysian† to describe: †¢ cultural â€Å"personalities† of pueblo and plains Indians. †¢ religious cults of northern and southern Greece. †¢ rituals of warfare and celebration in the South Pacifi †¢ contrasting modelsRead MoreThe Culture of Today and the Dionysian Society Essays646 Words   |  3 Pages Foreseeing the future, pain, drugs and alcohol. It all sounds like elements in the plot of a Hollywood movie. These elements, however, are not of a movie, but of the past of a society. â€Å"The Pueblos of New Mexico†, an essay written by Ruth Benedict talks of these different societies. Dionysian, derived from the Greek god of wine Dionysus, perceives values through â€Å"the annihilation of the ordinary bounds and limits of existence† (517). The Dionysian culture holds values that approve recklessness