Philosophy in the Community: How does Culture Regulate Our Actions? Why does this Matter?

Philosophy in the Community is a free lecture and discussion series sponsored by the USask Department of Philosophy. Learn more.

Date: Friday, Oct. 10
Time: 7 pm
Location: Emmanuel Anglican Church,
607 Dufferin Ave. (The Refinery)

Free and open to the public.

About this event

Why do people think, feel, and behave the way they do? The pursuit of answers to this question fuels research in psychology and attracts young people to psychology departments. Mainstream psychologists seek these answers by studying the human mind and brain in depth. These psychologists believe that the drives of human behaviour reside exclusively in the individual minds of people and should be studied there. Such an approach is often referred to as methodological individualism.

Another way of thinking is rooted in a sociocultural approach to understanding sources of human actions. According to this approach, the primary determinants and regulations of people’s actions should be found in the sociocultural communities in which they were born and socialized. Only within the incorporated communal sociocultural regulatory matrix do community members develop their individual, idiosyncratic, and autonomous actions.

In his presentation, Dr. Chirkov will elaborate on the sociocultural perspective in psychology and discuss how culture enters our minds and regulates our actions. He will discuss the evolutionary roots of the sociocultural regulation of human behaviour. Specifically, he will focus on the theory of sociocultural models that explains the mechanisms and dynamics of sociocultural regulation.

He will conclude his presentation by discussing the application of sociocultural ideas in psychology and their relevance to understanding the challenges immigrants face during acculturation.

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