The Evolution of Cultural Entities

Bibliographic Data

ID20007227
AuthorsJ M Ziman, Adam Kuper (corresponding author)
EditorsMichael Wheeler (0000-0003-3638-1215), John Ziman, Margaret A Boden
Year2002
Pages221
Publication date2002-10-03
Open AccessNo
TypeBOOK
VenueThe evolution of cultural entities (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherBritish Academy (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.5871/bacad/9780197262627.001.0001
OpenAlexW150243401
Open LibraryOL3670652M
ISBN9780197262627
LanguageEN
Citations received9

Ever since Charles Darwin, scholars have noted that cultural entities such as languages, laws, firms, and theories seem to ‘evolve’ through sequences of variation, selection and replication, in many ways just like living organisms. This book considers whether this comparison is ‘just a metaphor’, or whether modern evolutionary theory can help us to understand the dynamics of different cultural domains. The ‘evolutionary paradigm of rationality’ has a significant role to play throughout the human sciences, but raises complex issues in every cultural context where it is applied. By fostering discussion between scholars from a wide range of research traditions, this book aims to influence the evolution of all of them

Biology · Cognitive science · Epistemology · Linguistics · Metaphor · Rationality · Sociocultural evolution · Sociology · Anthropology · Computer Science · History · Language and cultural evolution · Philosophy · Psychology · Congresses · Culture · Origin · Social evolution · Theory of knowledge · Artificial Intelligence

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