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| ==Etymology== | | ==Etymology== |
| [[Latin]], plural of mor-, mos [[custom]] | | [[Latin]], plural of mor-, mos [[custom]] |
− | *Date: circa [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/19th_Century 1899] | + | *Date: circa [https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/19th_Century 1899] |
| ==Definitions== | | ==Definitions== |
| *1 : the fixed [[moral]]ly binding [[customs]] of a particular [[group]] | | *1 : the fixed [[moral]]ly binding [[customs]] of a particular [[group]] |
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| '''Mores''', in [[sociology]], are any given [[society]]'s particular [[norms]], [[virtues]] or [[values]]. The [[word]] mores (English pronunciation: /ˈmɔəreɪz/ or /ˈmɔəriːz/, from the [[Latin]] plural mōrēs; singular mōs) is a plurale tantum term borrowed from Latin, which has been used in the [[English]] [[language]] since the 1890s. | | '''Mores''', in [[sociology]], are any given [[society]]'s particular [[norms]], [[virtues]] or [[values]]. The [[word]] mores (English pronunciation: /ˈmɔəreɪz/ or /ˈmɔəriːz/, from the [[Latin]] plural mōrēs; singular mōs) is a plurale tantum term borrowed from Latin, which has been used in the [[English]] [[language]] since the 1890s. |
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− | [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folklore Folkways], in [[sociology]], are any informal mores characterized by being followed through [[imitation]] and mild [[social]] [[pressure]] but not strictly enforced or put into [[law]]. The term folkways, introduced by American sociologist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Graham_Sumner William Graham Sumner] in 1907, sees some use, especially in more modern [[sociology]]. A specific [[practice]] within a wider [[system]] of mores is known as a [[custom]], so that this term is sometimes used as the approximate singular of "mores." | + | [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folklore Folkways], in [[sociology]], are any informal mores characterized by being followed through [[imitation]] and mild [[social]] [[pressure]] but not strictly enforced or put into [[law]]. The term folkways, introduced by American sociologist [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Graham_Sumner William Graham Sumner] in 1907, sees some use, especially in more modern [[sociology]]. A specific [[practice]] within a wider [[system]] of mores is known as a [[custom]], so that this term is sometimes used as the approximate singular of "mores." |
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| Mores derive from the [[established]] [[practices]] of a [[society]] rather than its [[written]] laws. They consist of [[shared]] [[understandings]] about the kinds of [[behavior]] likely to evoke approval, disapproval, [[toleration]] or sanction, within particular [[contexts]]. | | Mores derive from the [[established]] [[practices]] of a [[society]] rather than its [[written]] laws. They consist of [[shared]] [[understandings]] about the kinds of [[behavior]] likely to evoke approval, disapproval, [[toleration]] or sanction, within particular [[contexts]]. |
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| The [[Greek]] term equivalent to Latin mores is ethos (εθος, ηθος). As with the relation of mores to [[morality]], ethos is the basis of the term [[ethics]], but does not itself carry connotations of [[morality]] as much as of customary proper [[behavior]] peculiar to a given [[society]]. | | The [[Greek]] term equivalent to Latin mores is ethos (εθος, ηθος). As with the relation of mores to [[morality]], ethos is the basis of the term [[ethics]], but does not itself carry connotations of [[morality]] as much as of customary proper [[behavior]] peculiar to a given [[society]]. |
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− | The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Germanic Common Germanic] equivalent of the term is *sidu-: Gothic sidus, Old Norse siðr (whence the Icelandic siður), [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._600-1100.09THE_OLD_ENGLISH.2C_OR_ANGLO-SAXON_PERIOD Old English] sidu, seodu, siodu, Old High German situ, sito. The Germanic word is cognate with [[Greek]] ethos etymologically, continuing a PIE *sedhos. | + | The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Germanic Common Germanic] equivalent of the term is *sidu-: Gothic sidus, Old Norse siðr (whence the Icelandic siður), [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._600-1100.09THE_OLD_ENGLISH.2C_OR_ANGLO-SAXON_PERIOD Old English] sidu, seodu, siodu, Old High German situ, sito. The Germanic word is cognate with [[Greek]] ethos etymologically, continuing a PIE *sedhos. |
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− | The [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ormulum Ormulum] still had sedeful "[[modest]], virtuous, chaste", but the [[word]] was [[extinct]] by the Early Modern English period. It survives in modern Scandinavian and Continental Germanic languages. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_German Modern German] [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Sitte Sitte] [[translates]] to "[[custom]], [[convention]]" but also to "decency"; the abstract noun Sittlichkeit translates to "morals, [[morality]]". | + | The [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ormulum Ormulum] still had sedeful "[[modest]], virtuous, chaste", but the [[word]] was [[extinct]] by the Early Modern English period. It survives in modern Scandinavian and Continental Germanic languages. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_German Modern German] [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Sitte Sitte] [[translates]] to "[[custom]], [[convention]]" but also to "decency"; the abstract noun Sittlichkeit translates to "morals, [[morality]]". |
| ==Anthropology== | | ==Anthropology== |
− | The [[meaning]] of all these terms extend to all [[customs]] of proper [[behavior]] in a given [[society]] from more trivial conventional aspects of [[costume]], etiquette or politeness, "folkways" enforced by gentle [[social]] [[pressure]], but going beyond mere "folkways" or conventions in including [[moral]] codes and notions of [[justice]] down to strict [[taboos]], behaviour that is unthinkable within the [[society]] in question, very commonly including [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incest incest] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder murder], but also the commitment of outrages specific to the [[individual]] [[society]] such as [[blasphemy]]. Such [[religious]] or sacral [[customs]] may be unpredictable and vary completely from one [[culture]] to another: while uttering the name of [[God]] may be a [[taboo]] in one culture, uttering it as often as possible may be considered pious in the extreme in another. | + | The [[meaning]] of all these terms extend to all [[customs]] of proper [[behavior]] in a given [[society]] from more trivial conventional aspects of [[costume]], etiquette or politeness, "folkways" enforced by gentle [[social]] [[pressure]], but going beyond mere "folkways" or conventions in including [[moral]] codes and notions of [[justice]] down to strict [[taboos]], behaviour that is unthinkable within the [[society]] in question, very commonly including [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incest incest] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder murder], but also the commitment of outrages specific to the [[individual]] [[society]] such as [[blasphemy]]. Such [[religious]] or sacral [[customs]] may be unpredictable and vary completely from one [[culture]] to another: while uttering the name of [[God]] may be a [[taboo]] in one culture, uttering it as often as possible may be considered pious in the extreme in another. |
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− | While [[cultural]] [[universals]] are by definition part of the mores of every [[society]] (hence also called "empty universals"), the customary norms specific to a given [[society]] are a defining aspect of the cultural [[identity]] of a ethnicity or a nation. Coping with the [[differences]] between two sets of cultural [[conventions]] is a question of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercultural_competence intercultural competence]. Differences in the mores of various nations are at the [[root]] of ethnic [[stereotype]], or in the case of [[reflection]] upon one's own mores, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_autostereotypes_by_nation autostereotypes]. | + | While [[cultural]] [[universals]] are by definition part of the mores of every [[society]] (hence also called "empty universals"), the customary norms specific to a given [[society]] are a defining aspect of the cultural [[identity]] of a ethnicity or a nation. Coping with the [[differences]] between two sets of cultural [[conventions]] is a question of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercultural_competence intercultural competence]. Differences in the mores of various nations are at the [[root]] of ethnic [[stereotype]], or in the case of [[reflection]] upon one's own mores, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_autostereotypes_by_nation autostereotypes]. |
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| [[Category: Sociology]] | | [[Category: Sociology]] |