The Evolution of Cultural Entities

9780197262627

Hardback, published 3 October 2002

234 pages, 3 line drawings
24.4 x 16.2 x 2.6 cm, 0.557 kg

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. 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 volume aims to influence the evolution of all of them.

Subject Areas: History of ideas [JFCX]