TITLE:
A Complement or a Panacea—On Culture and the Efficacy of Cultural Interpretation
AUTHORS:
Xiaolin Mao
KEYWORDS:
Culture, Cultural Interpretation, Vagueness, Efficacy, Panacea, Complement
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.11 No.11,
November
14,
2023
ABSTRACT: What is
culture and how well does it work in explaining our social phenomena? This paper is an attempt to answer
these two questions. The vagueness or uncertainty around the concept of culture
has somewhat undermined its effectiveness as a convincing tool for
interpretation in social science. Following an analysis of the core elements of
culture, this paper then discusses the merits and the challenges the cultural
interpretation has confronted. In this paper, I argue that mainly
due to its vagueness, culture without
clear specifications should not be treated as a panacea, but a complement to
other means of interpretation, a way to enrich our means of understanding our
multi-faceted world. Cultural interpretation should not be a tautological
conversation stopper for further inquiry, but be a more precise tool for
critical inquiries.