Leisure is the basis of culture. That is the title of a book written by Joseph Pieper, who has outstanding academic credentials and has published widely on the philosophical questions of religion. It is also relevant to this discussion to note that he is an orthodox Christian believer. There is neither time nor space to give a thorough exposition of his thoughts on the basis of culture. It is enough to know that he argues that religion is a part of culture. Not the whole of it and certainly not its foundation.
Since this is a history forum (as distinguished from a religious forum) let us review the history of the word and see from whence it came and how it has been bandied about.
The word culture comes from the Latin colere which has the meaning “to till or cultivate.” You have a culture you grow a mold in a petri dish in the lab. (Or on that uneaten half sandwich you have in the fridge.) But the more general use of the word includes all of the creative expressions of man in all fields of human endeavor. On other occasions it is confined to creative expressions in the areas of liberal arts. This second sense is also extended to mean personal cultivation. As in the expression, “Pedro reads all the best books, he is a cultured man.”
It may surprise you to know that this term came into use only in the 18th century. But, being the thorough historians that we are, we can find plenty of antecedents in the writings of the Greeks.
The second sense I mentioned can be found in the works of Plato and Aristotle in the Academy and Lyceum which were centers for the production and transmission of forms of culture.
The School of Cynicism in turning from human society to nature, regarded human culture in both of the above senses as degenerate and corrupting. But what did you expect? They were cynics. Lol.
Their more laid back collogues, the Stoics, took a larger view in which a world culture emerged. One was a citizen of the universe, and not merely of his city-state.
These ideals of Greek culture were perpetuated thru generations from the days of Alcuin thru Boethius and others who used the terminology in the establishment of the seven Liberal Arts, which were made up of two parts, the Trivium [which consisted of grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric.] and the Quadrivium [which included arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music.]
The next stage in our definition is the Romantic era, when the notion of culture was in terms of genius, and the refinement of aesthetic sensibilities. Some say is said to have been set by Immanuel Kant in his Critique of judgment. [I must admit I’ve never been able to read the whole of it. My German isn’t good enough.]
Some lesser known philosophers developed the concept further, such as Herder (a German thinker) who viewed speech as central to the development of culture. Another, Fichte, wrote that man’s goal was to develop a an ethical world culture.
And yet again, another German thinker, Schlegel wrote about the vitality of culture and how it was dependent on the fusion of science and life.
Matthew Arnold, a 19th century apostle of culture, identified culture with the goal of “total perfection” and gave it a role in overcoming the barbarism and philistinism of society. [Boy could the internet use him now.]
Another Victorian, Spengler, distinguished “culture” from “civilization,” regarding the former as the vital possibilities of a society, and latter as the mere external form of their achievement.
In more recent times Sociologist differ concerning whether of not “culture” or “civilization” can be understood as identical.
In the late 19th century E.B. Taylor in his Primitive Culture held that the two concepts were identical, and included knowledge, belief, art, morals, laws, and customs.
A colleague of his Alfred Weber, distinguished the terms, relating the former to philosophy, religion and art; and the latter to science and technology.
For a modern materialist view we have Plekhanov who comes closer that any other dialectical materialist to holding that the cultural product of a nation is dependent upon its economic substructure.
As for me I prefer and enjoy Huizinga who emphasized the “play” element in culture.
This outline is far to brief but will, I hope, serve the purpose of showing the foundation of the word “culture” and its many facets.
The final word belongs to
Alpine Luke:
