Cultural Materialism

The way to decide and decide the pursuit of an ecosystem optimized for survival by adapting the environment to specific conditions of the living environment is the main idea of ​​cultural materialism. Leading scholar Marvin Harris thinks that these behaviors will later become cultural ideas and then integrate ideas by attaching religious ideologies. Culture is a way human beings adapt to the environment.

Advocates of alternative anthropology have criticized the cultural materialism theory for various reasons. Marxist criticism of cultural materialism ignores the structural influence on infrastructure. In postmodern, science is only a function of culture, so I do not think it appropriate to rely on "Etic" when studying culture. Idealists criticize cultural materialism by ignoring variables like genetics and believe that "Emic" is more important than cultural materialists admit. Finally, materialist seems to be too simplistic. We must also consider the intellectual and mental impacts on society. We are smart creatures and often have a spiritual tendency and can not be explained by physical means alone.

Sociologists believe that the two aspects of culture - material and non - material - are closely related. Material culture originates from, and is formed by, the non-material aspect of culture. In other words, we value the things we do together in our daily life, believe, and understand influence what we do. But it is not a one - way relationship between material culture and intangible culture. Material culture can also affect non-material aspects of culture. For example, a powerful documentary (an aspect of material culture) may change people's attitudes and beliefs (ie, intangible culture). That is why cultural products tend to follow patterns. For example, music, movies, television, and art content may influence the values, beliefs, and expectations of people interacting with them, thereby affecting the creation of other cultural products.