Learning from early attempts to generalize Darwinian principles to social evolution

Bibliographic Data

ID12938841
AuthorsG M Hodgson (0000-0002-5823-3996, University of Hertfordshire, corresponding author)
Year2010
Volume8
Issue2
Pages153-167
Publication date2010-05-18
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Evolutionary Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1789-2082 • E-ISSN: 2060-5587
PublisherAkadémiai Kiadó (PUBLISHER • HU)
DOI10.1556/jep.8.2010.2.5
OpenAlexW2111725438
LanguageEN
References cited51

Evolutionary psychology places the human psyche in the context of evolution, and addresses the Darwinian processes involved, particularly at the level of genetic evolution. A logically separate and potentially complementary argument is to consider the application of Darwinian principles not only to genes but also to social entities and processes. This idea of extending Darwinian principles was suggested by Darwin himself. Attempts to do this appeared as early as the 1870s and proliferated until the early twentieth century. But such ideas remained dormant in the social sciences from the 1920s until after the Second World War. Some lessons can be learned from this earlier period, particularly concerning the problem of specifying the social units of selection or replication

Cognitive science · Darwinism · Epistemology · Social learning · Sociology · Economic Theory and Institutions · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science · Psychology

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