apollonian

behavior

configuration

configuration approach

cultural configurations

cultural suicide

culture

culture and personality school

culture-as-personality-writ-large

debt

faith

giri - ninijo

guilt culture

happiness

hierarchy

individual

institution

Japan

Japanese

Japanese culture

Japanese society

liberty

personality

personality writ large

racism

revenge

safety

shame culture

significance

situational ethics

society

synergy

violence

world made safe for differences

nationality

American

occupation / innovator as

anthropologist

university professor

Columbia University

innovator in the field of

folklore

President of the American Anthropological Association

American Folklore Society

poet

folklorist

university teacher

biographer

scientific organization

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

cause of death

natural causes

sociologist

cultural anthropology

volkerpsychologie

anthropology of Japan

anthropology

Patterns of Culture

The Chrysanthemum and the Sword

is only understandable against the background of the motives and emotions and values that are institutionalized in that culture.

If we are interested in cultural processes, the only way in which we can know the significance of the selected detail of behavior is against the background of the motives and emotions and values that are institutionalized in that culture' (Benedict 1934:49... my emphasis).

is the arc of elements from which cultures select.

Arc of elements from which cultures select' = a configuration (25)

is a method based on the assumption that culture and personality are so deeply interwoven that they cannot be viewed separately.

the idea 'combined the Boasian idea of cultural relativism with psychological ideas (LeVine 1982:53). . . . Often this view is criticized as exaggerating the consistency of the culture and avoiding particulars. Benedict specifically was criticized as being too humanistic and not using enough quantitative data.'

is incessant feuding and in-fighting which destroys a society.

A desire for revenge can also destroy a society. A belief in the necessity of blood vengeance may have been adaptive once. It no longer is. Many societies have been unable to bring their feuds under control. Ruth Benedict called this cultural suicide. She was referring to the Kaingang Indians whose incessant feuds had reduced their population by 75%.' (nett)

is like an individual, a more or less consistent pattern of thought and action.

A culture, like an individual, is a more or less consistent pattern of thought and action' (Benedict 1934:46)...

is not a biologically transmitted complex.

Culture is not a biologically transmitted complex.

is that which really binds men together... the ideas and the standards they have in common.

What really binds men together is their culture, -the ideas and the standards they have in common. (p. 16)

is a school of thought which emphasizes the 'personality' of whole cultures rather than individuals.

a 'culture and personality' The perspective of Ruth Benedict and her followers which emphasizes the 'personality' of whole cultures rather than individuals. (Barnard)

is, in Japan, such that the passivity of a street crowd after an accident is not just lack of initiative. It is a recognition that any nonofficial interference would make the recipient carry a debt.

They would prefer to avoid getting entangled in all the consequences of on. The passivity of a street crowd in Japan when an accident occurs is not just lack of initiative. It is a recognition that any nonofficial interference would make the recipient wear an 'on' (Benedict 1946:104).

 dies out far faster for the present than for the future.

Our faith in the present dies out long before our faith in the future. Ruth Benedict

is a culture whereby social control is maintained by inculcating in children an expectation of punishment (guilt) as opposed to a threat of ostracism (shame).

a culture whereby social control is maintained by inculcating in children an expectation of punishment (guilt) as opposed to a threat of ostracism (shame).

is a category that is clarified not by stressing the antagonism between culture and individual, but rather by stressing their mutual reinforcement.

The problem of the individual is not clarified by stressing the antagonism between culture and the individual, but by stressing their mutual reinforcement.' (Benedict Patterns 232)

is not, as they see themselves, 'heirs' to the past. Rather they are 'debtors' to it.

burden of debt' whereby the Japanese are 'debtors' instead of 'heirs' of the past...' (Benedict: Chrysanthemum)

is a high synergy society in which institutions fit together coherently and personality coincides with culture.

For Benedict, Japan exemplified a 'high synergy' society, in which institutions fit together coherently and personality coincides with culture. Benedict indicates .'

is that being which never looks at the world with pristine eyes. He sees it edited by a definite set of customs and institutions and ways of thinking.

No man ever looks at the world with pristine eyes. He sees it edited by a definite set of customs and institutions and ways of thinking.

is the great arc of human potententialities from which every culture selects characteristics and elaborates with greater strength and intensity than an individual could ever do.

On this basis she developed her own special contribution, her view of human cultures as 'personality writ large,' her view that it was possible to see each culture, no matter how small and primitive or how large and complex, as having selected from the great arc of human potentialities certain characteristics and then having elaborated them with greater strength and intensity than any single individual could ever do in one lifetime. (v)

is an 'ism' to which everyone in the world today is exposed.

Racism is an ism to which everyone in the world today is exposed... for or against, we must take sides. And the history of the future will differ according to the decision which we make.

is an arrogant prejudice which defies what is scientifically known of human races.

The arrogance of race prejudice is an arrogance which defies what is scientifically known of human races.Ruth Benedict

is that which one sometimes takes upon someone who has been right when you yourself were wrong.

These two themes from the historical tales revenge upon someone who has been right when you were wrong, and revenge for a slur, even from one's lord are commonplaces in the best-known literature in Japan , and they have many variations. (Benedict C&S : 163-4)

is, in Japan, a feeling derived from the maintenance of 'proper station'. One is safe not in the sense that one's best good is protected but that one is 'safe' because one has accepted hierarchy as legitimate.

As long as 'proper station' is maintained the Japanaese carry on without protest. They feel safe. They are of course often not 'safe' in the sense that their best good is protected but they are 'safe' because they have accepted hierarchy as legitimate' (benedict C&S 96)

Ruth Benedict

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Ruth Benedict