Values – the Core of Culture

Cultural values are formed by a particular community and not individually. Any member of a given community comes across these values and may assume an individual attitude towards them. Discovering values and exploring them is a defining characteristic of a free, thinking, and active individual. In the culture of any society there are values on which there is a general agreement; they are the basis of its identity; actions of social institutions and individuals focus upon them; they create a stimulating environment; their implementation binds society together; they unite what is fragmented and universalize what is individual and temporary. Such values are called central or native values (A. Kłoskowska) or higher values (S. Ossowski). They determine the quality of a given society and its cultural specificity. In any culture individuals seek self-fulfilment, but it always happens in the social context. Due to the fact that culture always has both social and individual character, a social group maintains the same culture and at the same time develops it. Each new generation enters the heritage of previous generations and adds something new to it but in compliance with values that have already been provided. Material products and behaviours are subject to constant change, many become forgotten, but values that are the basis for their formation remain and continue to stimulate new actions. This means that culture is a social message and a creation that requires human effort of adhering to what has already been valuable to individuals and society but at the same time creating something new that is in close correlation with the existing heritage. Fidelity to roots “is always creative, ready to descend into the depths, open to new challenges, alert to the ‘signs of the times’ … Fidelity to roots means above all the ability to create an organic synthesis of perennial values, confirmed so often in history, and the challenge of today’s world” ( John Paul II 2000: 204). So far, significant changes in individual and social life in the European culture have taken place with the dissemination of the following