ABSTRACT
Within the field of sociology, the status of culture has been described as “inordinately vague”. On the one hand, it is a “superordinate power in society”; on the other, it is reduced to “a mere epiphenomenon”. It is clearly vital to gain greater clarity over just what culture is, and how it relates to art. A key objective of this chapter’s continuing laminated explanation, therefore, is distinguishing culture from closely allied terms (arts, artworks, cultural sector, creativity, and aesthetics). Particular attention is brought to the dynamic nature of culture (through a morphogenetic analysis of its relationship with creativity), and to culture’s rootedness in our “axiological relations” – our relationship with value. A distinctive definition of culture – as our collective system(s) of value recognition – is presented.
