从奥巴马就职演说中探析美国价值观(2)
II. Values and American Values
2.1 The Concept of Values
Values have a crucial meaning for a country. Different countries have different cultures, so they have different values. Values are a series of rules for people to make choices and resolve conflicts. These rules and guideposts are normative and teach people what is useful, good, right, and wrong, what to strive for, how to live life, and even what to die for. Similar to the idea is Schwartz’s (24) definition of “Values as conceptions of the desirable that guide the way social actors select actions, evaluate people and events, and explain their actions and evaluations”. According to Schwartz and Bilsky, five features repeatedly show up in most of the definitions: values are beliefs; values are a motivational construct; values transcend specific actions and situations; values guide selection or evaluation of behavior and events; values are ordered by importance relative to one another (55). Obviously, there exist many kinds of definitions about “value”.
2.2 Values in American Society
A value system “represents what is expected or hoped for, required or forbidden. It is not a report of actual conduct but is the system of criteria by which conduct is judged and sanctions applied (Wood, 152).” However, to generalize American values is hampered by the persity of American culture. The country consisted of immigrants has formed different cultures which are harmonized into an integrated whole that contributes to the multifold features of the American culture and values. There have been many anthropologists elaborating on American values. Garry P. Ferraro held that Americans place a relatively high value on inpidualism, a precise reckoning of time, a future orientation, work and achievement, control over the natural environment, youthfulness, informality, competition and relative equality of the sexes (89). He generalized American basic values. The most famous values of American are inpidualism: They pursue freedom, equality, personal achievement and competition. They stress independence and self-reliance. They work hard to acquire material wealth.
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