Moral Believing Animals Human Personhood And Culture Summary

The book, "Moral, Believing Animals: Human Personhood and Culture," was written by Christian Smith in 2003. The sociology text was published by Oxford University Press, with the paperback copy containing 172 pages. In "Moral, Believing Animals: Human Personhood and Culture," Christian Smith discusses how morality, belief systems, and culture are tied together. The book goes into how human behavior, and the way people act, is affected by these different things. Smith talks about understanding of morality is shaped by the type of culture that we live in, "Our lives are embedded in the moral and religious frameworks of our particular cultures, which deeply shape our understanding of reality, our self-conceptions, and our social relationships." (Smith, 2003, p. 57) Throughout the book, he

68) To Smith Religion shapes the moral belief and shows guidance in a person's life. In the final part before the conclusion, The Return of Culture, Smith looks at the other ideas of other writers who are also interested in culture. He discusses their theories, but he points out that they all miss something important, they don't really explain why people do what they do. Their theories are either based on the idea that people always make logical choices, or they don't give a good reason for people's actions. Smith thinks this is a big problem, he believes that any good study of culture needs to consider questions about what makes people who they are like what he discussed earlier in the book, what drives them, and why they do what they do, all from a cultural and moral point of view. Lastly, Smith goes back over his main points from the book. He discusses how humans are moral and believing creatures, and how culture is shaped by these beliefs, explaining that cultures are like moral systems built on stories that support our core beliefs. Personally, this book was very intricate to read for me. A lot of thought had to go into understanding what Smith was trying to