In his book, Moral, Believing Animals: Human Personhood and Culture, Christian Smith develops a unique theory for human beings and culture. The thoughts he illustrates throughout the book offer readers new, thoughtful answers to some of life’s deepest questions as well as other valuable questions relating to theories of sociology, culture, and religion. Each of his chapters showcase the structure of culture and the role it plays in society.
Christian Smith begins the book by discussing how the culture of a society is primarily understood through its moral order. He explains that we, as humans, have a natural desire to gain understanding about moral order since we are not able to obtain any absolute truth from the world. However, human understanding …show more content…
It was very interesting to read Smith 's ideas and thoughts relating to Bourdieu 's concept of capital (130). I found it intriguing how Christian Smith discussed how Bourdieu viewed economic capital as the root of all types of capital. This related to how it seems like society revolves around money value more heavily in today 's society. For example, I might think I am applying for a higher position in a company for the respect and authority that comes with the position but, in reality, I am subconsciously gravitating towards the higher salary that comes with the position. In other words, my internal intensions may have been focused on the economic capital, not the social capital. Another example would be how the wealthier politicians with the most money for campaigns tend to win more because their economic capital supplies them with more resources to help them gain the likelihood of the country. However, economic capital can also lead to an increase in social capital. In middle school, dressing in name-brand clothing and playing in elite sports clubs seemed to lead to an increase in popularity. One way to explain this is because kids with more money had the opportunity to buy luxurious clothing and pay for expensive sports club memberships. When people see that other people have more money, they develop a desire to become their friend so that they can earn more resources through their friendship. This gives the wealthier kids more social capital. Although he argues that his theory lacks reference to human motivation (143), Christian Smith discusses Bourdieu’s ideas on capital by explaining that high economic capital can lead to many other opportunities in a human’s
Christian Smith begins the book by discussing how the culture of a society is primarily understood through its moral order. He explains that we, as humans, have a natural desire to gain understanding about moral order since we are not able to obtain any absolute truth from the world. However, human understanding …show more content…
It was very interesting to read Smith 's ideas and thoughts relating to Bourdieu 's concept of capital (130). I found it intriguing how Christian Smith discussed how Bourdieu viewed economic capital as the root of all types of capital. This related to how it seems like society revolves around money value more heavily in today 's society. For example, I might think I am applying for a higher position in a company for the respect and authority that comes with the position but, in reality, I am subconsciously gravitating towards the higher salary that comes with the position. In other words, my internal intensions may have been focused on the economic capital, not the social capital. Another example would be how the wealthier politicians with the most money for campaigns tend to win more because their economic capital supplies them with more resources to help them gain the likelihood of the country. However, economic capital can also lead to an increase in social capital. In middle school, dressing in name-brand clothing and playing in elite sports clubs seemed to lead to an increase in popularity. One way to explain this is because kids with more money had the opportunity to buy luxurious clothing and pay for expensive sports club memberships. When people see that other people have more money, they develop a desire to become their friend so that they can earn more resources through their friendship. This gives the wealthier kids more social capital. Although he argues that his theory lacks reference to human motivation (143), Christian Smith discusses Bourdieu’s ideas on capital by explaining that high economic capital can lead to many other opportunities in a human’s