The Evolution of Cultural Entities

by Michael Wheeler (Editor), John Ziman (Editor), Margaret A. Boden (Editor)

Overview

Ever since 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. These essays consider whether this comparison is "just a metaphor," or whether modern evolutionary theory can help us to understand the dynamics of different cultural domains.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780197262627
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	04/03/2003
Series:	Proceedings of the British Academy , #112
Pages:	234
Product dimensions:	9.40(w) x 6.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

University of Dundee

University of Bristol

University of Sussex Academy

Table of Contents

Introduction: Selectionist Reasoning as a Tool of Thought, John ZimanHeritable Variation and Competitive Selection as the Mechanism of Sociocultural Evolution, W. G. RuncimanBetween Development and Evolution: How to Model Cultural Change, Eva JablonkaBetween Evolution and History: Biology, Culture and the Myth of Human Origins, Tim IngoldAn Integrating Scaffold: Toward an Autonomy -Theoretic Modelling of Cultural Change, C. A. HookerCulture, Adam KuperLearning from Culture, Henry PlotkinChoosing the Selectors, Mary MidgleyEvolutionary Theorizing in Economics, Richard R. NelsonThe Evolution of Technological Knowledge: Reflections on Technological Innovation as an Evolutionary Process, Brian J. LoasbyIdiosyncratic Production Regimes: Co-evolution of Economic and Legal Institutions in the Varieties of Capitalism, Gunther TeubnerThe Evolution of Education: Change and Reform, Joan SolomonThe Evolution of Merged Culture, Genes and Computing Artefacts, Susantha Goonatilake