Cultural Selection

A critical examination of the idea that human culture changes via a mechanism similar to Darwin's natural selection.

Tim Lewens (Author)

9781009539098, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 27 June 2024

75 pages
22.9 x 15.1 x 0.5 cm, 0.14 kg

'The analysis is smart, and it is fun and easy to read. … it is an excellent conceptual analysis of cultural evolution theory, and its brevity makes it a good introduction to the philosophical issues raised by this theory.' Robert T. Boyd, The Quarterly Review of Biology

Humans learn in ways that are influenced by others. As a result, cultural items of many types are elaborated over time in ways that build on the achievements of previous generations. Culture therefore shows a pattern of descent with modification reminiscent of Darwinian evolution. This raises the question of whether cultural selection-a mechanism akin to natural selection, albeit working when learned items are passed from demonstrators to observers-can explain how various practices are refined over time. This Element argues that cultural selection is not necessary for the explanation of cultural adaptation; it shows how to build hybrid explanations that draw on aspects of cultural selection and cultural attraction theory; it shows how cultural reproduction makes problems for highly formalised approaches to cultural selection; and it uses a case-study to demonstrate the importance of human agency for cumulative cultural adaptation.

Introduction: culture from the side of natural history
1. The arguments for cultural selection
2. The attractions of cultural selection
3. The cultural price equation
4. Waiting for casabe
References.

Subject Areas: Philosophy of science [PDA]