ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on the problem of cultural determinism, as this is embodied in the various rules which guarantee order and security, and which foster co-operation and concerted action under conditions of peace and progress. Culture is based on the existence of rules, on their recognition, and their acceptance. Such rules by and large are the essential instruments of freedom. The chapter establishes with greater precision and clarity the distinction between the intrinsic rules of cultural determinism, and rules of tyranny which are an abuse of certain cultural mechanisms, in the interests of some at the expense of others. The code of the law of nature is primarily written in the behavior of natural forces and entities. All the messages from nature to man are embodied in human tradition. The realization of natural determinism is thus received by each generation from culture.