omnis cultura ex cultura

is the idea that culture arises entirely out of itself; it is a thing sui generis and can be explained only in terms of itself; not in terms of, say, the laws of psychology or biology.

is the notion that the science of culture is independent of the laws of biology and psychology.

For Lowie, "the principles of psychology are as incapable of accounting for the phenomena of culture as is gravitation to account for architectural styles," and "culture is a thing sui generis which can be explained only in terms of itself. ...Omnis cultura ex cultura" ( 1917/ 1966, p. 25-26; p. 66). Murdock, in his influential essay "The science of culture," summed up the conventional view that culture is "independent of the laws of biology and psychology" ( 1932, p. 200).


omnis cultura ex cultura, n.All

omnis cultura ex cultura