Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 279-301 |
| Number of pages | 23 |
| Journal | Philosophy of the social sciences |
| Volume | 54 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Early online date | 18 Oct 2023 |
| Publication status | Published - Jul 2024 |
Abstract
Recently there has been a rise in the application of concepts and methods from biological evolutionary theory to human cultures and societies where the aim is to explain these by describing them as population-level phenomena reducible to individual-level processes. I argue against this type of view by using Mesoudi's Cultural Evolution as a case study. I claim that Mesoudi’s ontological assumptions about cultures and societies are dubious and his methodological assumptions inadequate when it comes to addressing cultural and social phenomena. A consequence is that this approach to studying culture is, at the very least, incomplete and of limited application.
Keywords
- cultural evolutionary theory, individualism, methodology, reductionism, social ontology
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Arts and Humanities(all)
- Philosophy
- Social Sciences(all)
- Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
Cite this
- Standard
- Harvard
- Apa
- Vancouver
- BibTeX
- RIS
In: Philosophy of the social sciences, Vol. 54, No. 4, 07.2024, p. 279-301.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Ontological and Methodological Limitations of Certain Cultural Evolution Approaches
AU - Valković, Martina
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2023.
PY - 2024/7
Y1 - 2024/7
N2 - Recently there has been a rise in the application of concepts and methods from biological evolutionary theory to human cultures and societies where the aim is to explain these by describing them as population-level phenomena reducible to individual-level processes. I argue against this type of view by using Mesoudi's Cultural Evolution as a case study. I claim that Mesoudi’s ontological assumptions about cultures and societies are dubious and his methodological assumptions inadequate when it comes to addressing cultural and social phenomena. A consequence is that this approach to studying culture is, at the very least, incomplete and of limited application.
AB - Recently there has been a rise in the application of concepts and methods from biological evolutionary theory to human cultures and societies where the aim is to explain these by describing them as population-level phenomena reducible to individual-level processes. I argue against this type of view by using Mesoudi's Cultural Evolution as a case study. I claim that Mesoudi’s ontological assumptions about cultures and societies are dubious and his methodological assumptions inadequate when it comes to addressing cultural and social phenomena. A consequence is that this approach to studying culture is, at the very least, incomplete and of limited application.
KW - cultural evolutionary theory
KW - individualism
KW - methodology
KW - reductionism
KW - social ontology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85174230889&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/00483931231208512
DO - 10.1177/00483931231208512
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85174230889
VL - 54
SP - 279
EP - 301
JO - Philosophy of the social sciences
JF - Philosophy of the social sciences
SN - 0048-3931
IS - 4
ER -