ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Mystery of Life How Do Cultures Evolve? Various definitions have been given for culture in encyclopedias all around the world, but they all have elements of properness, perfection, spiritual and physical progress, man's virtual dignity and glory, a deserved, appropriate life along with responsible freedom and law-abiding justice in common. Over 164 various definitions exist.

Having studied and evaluated the most important definitions of culture, we may provide a comprehensive one: Culture is the necessary or proper attribute of man's physical or mental activities, based on sound logic and emotions arising from sensible evolutionary lifestyles. Culture is generally a bi-polar phenomenon; it has both external and internal natures.

On one hand it concerns man's mental structure and spiritual make-up - which other living beings lack - and on the other, it has observable effects, too, which are behaviors and results physically visible. The Four Principles of Culture Four principles should be noted in our definition of culture: Necessary or proper quality based on sound logic and emotions arising from evolutionary lifestyles.

In other words, every cultural element must first originate from sound logic and supreme human emotions, and secondly provide man with the means for his development and perfection. If what the society calls culture does not tend to develop man or arouse his highest emotions, it will be in fact an anti-culture element. Culture is a term including values. Phenomena like greed for power, fame, selfishness and hedonism cannot be regarded as cultural elements.

Human life is worthless without a culture based on the definition given above, for without culture, life will be empty of supreme human meaning, intellect, or emotions. The more the culture of a society relies on basic, intelligible principles and supreme human perceptions, the more lasting the culture will be. Culture has two aspects: relative and absolute.

By absolute aspect we mean the comprehensive, general aspect of culture, such as the culture of appreciating beauty, respect for others, and gaining knowledge, which is applicable to all human societies. The relative aspect of culture arises from the particular ways of thinking, emotions and behaviors of a certain society, like mutual respect. Two Different Forms of Culture We can categorize culture into two kinds: pioneer and pursuant.