2024 Y5 GP Lecture - Tradition

Dunman High School General Paper 2024 Year 5 Term2 Week 8 Lecture 4 Tradition Tradition: Long- standing beliefs or practices handed down fromgeneration to generation, and a group’s or society’s continuation of these beliefs or practices. Modernity: The present culture of openness towards change and novelty in beliefs and practices. There exist traditional sports (sumo wrestling, sepak takraw), languages (ethnic tongues, dialects), arts (Chinese opera, I ndian classical dance), medicine (Traditional Chinese Medicine), religious practices (Kesh in Sikhism, Lent in Christianity), political institutions (monarchy), social customs (etiquette, filial piety) and values (closeness to family, solidarity with community, respect for authority, religiosity). Characteristics of tradition Characteristics of modernity Continuity Change Preservation Destruction + Creation Guided by time- tested practices Guided by creativity + rational goals Deferring to history Embracing freedomto create one’s own future

Dunman High School General Paper 2024 Year 5 Term2 Week 8 Lecture 4 Perspective A: Why embrace tradition? Perspective B: Why be wary of tradition? 1. A1. Order, cohesion Certain traditional beliefs and attitudes have been central to maintaining social order and cohesion between different individuals in a society. ● Traditional etiquette promotes civility between individuals. ● Traditional social bonding activities promote social solidarity and affinity for one’s culture. ● Traditional respect for established authorities sustains obedience towards rules. ● Traditional belief in an afterlife of punishment and reward instills moral discipline. When such traditions are rej ected, society risks moral relativism: instead of members adhering to a common socio- moral order we have all inherited, each individual adheres only to moral standards she has created or chosen for herself. I ndividuals’ beliefs and standards may then lack concern for the collective interest, or move in conflicting directions, resulting in social fragmention. Sticking to our shared traditions avoids fragmentation, and preserves unity. B1. Unj ust order, herdbehaviour Tradition may be used as an excuse to maintain an social order that is unfair towards a particular group. ● Gender roles: Women’s roles have traditionally been confined to the domestic sphere, in contrast to men’s more expansive roles in public life and work. After women’s movements fought for women’s emancipation fromthis restrictive tradition in the 19 t h and 20 t h centuries, women finally gained greater choice over their roles in society and the family, and greater public recognition. The supposed “collective interest” may disproportionately serve the interests of one group in society at the expense of another group. Established authorities sometimes come froma privileged group (men, some religious leaders, upper classes) who demand respect for traditional order as a way of maintaining their privileged status. Excessive social coh