PARTICULAR AND UNIVERSAL CULTURE VERSUS CONSUMER CULTURE: AN EPISTEMOLOGICAL APPROACH

Abstract

Several concepts are addressed in the article: culture, national culture, universal culture, consumerist culture. The most significant definitions of the respective terms, launched by such notorious anthropologists as E. Tylor, James Frazer, Robert Lowie, A.L. Kroeberand C. Kluckhohn, A. Mihu, G. Troc, Al. Tănase etc. are updated and analyzed. The author opted for those definitions and theories, which caused, first of all, contradictory discussions and that have largely contributed to the elucidation of the meanings of the concept. At the same time, several perspectives for defining the concept of culture were insisted upon: synthetic-analytical, determinism, relations, „culture-civilization”, „culture-environment”, „culture-nature”, „culture-individual/social consciousness”, „culture - human personality”. The scientific approach is in accordance with the historical period in which we live, dominated by the phenomenon of globalization, by modern relativism and skepticism, by the devaluation of humanistic principles, including cultural values.

Keywords

• culture
• particular culture
• universal culture
• consumerist culture
• forms
• manifestations of culture