5. Theories of Culture. (6 theories of culture)

Culture as distinct from nature	Culture as knowledge	Culture as communication	Culture as a sys. of mediation	Culture as a sys. of practices	Culture as a system of participation
Nature-nurture (culture). Smth learned, transmit- ed, from one gen- ion to next. From ppl and materials as books.	If C is learned, thought of it in terms of knldg. To know C is like knowing a language(mental realities).	C-system of signs-. C- representation of the world (in stories, myths, theories, proverbs, artistic products. Levi-Strauss: all cultures are sign systems.	User-tool-object. Tools are media-tional obj. C organizes use of T. Obj-s, beliefs, ling. code – tools for ppl to media-te relationships with the world.	culture~language - system of words, gram. rules, com-ting way, specialized lexicons, and metaphors (for politics, medicine, ethics).	to speak a language means to be able to participate in interactions. Any action in the world, has an inherently social, collective, and participatory quality.
In all theories of culture language plays an important part. It provides the most complex system of classification of experience. Language also provides us with a useful link between inner thought and public behavior. Control over linguistic means often translates into control over our relationship with the world.

16. Speaking as social action.

To use language is to perform an action, and it is a meaningful action, with consequences for the speaker, the hearer, and the conversation of which it is part.

John Austin, John Searle (1940s) – Speech Act Theory (a pragmatic view of L: L is used for doing things):

1. A locutionary act: the act of saying something (meaning);

2. An illocutionary act: the act the speaker can accomplish in saying something by means of the conventional force of the locutionary act; its intended significance (force);

3. A perlocutionary act: the act produced by the uttering of a particular locution (effect).

5 types of illoc-ry acts (Searle): assertives (assert, argue, inform, remind, predict, insist, blame); directives (request, ask, order, forbid, suggest, beg); expressives (apologize, thank, congratulate, protest, greet); declaratives (declare, appoint, nominate, confirm, disapprove, name, call); commissives (commit, promise, threaten, offer, guarantee, contract, bet).

Successfully-performed speech act: conventionality of procedure (certain w by certain persons in certain circumstances); appropriate number and types of participants and circumstances; complete execution of procedure; complete participation (as part of the conventional procedure); sincerity conditions (certain thoughts, feelings, and intentions - responsibility implicit in the uttering of certain words); consequent behavior.

(Salt Case) - causing somebody to hand one the salt