Population thinking and natural selection in dual-inheritance theory
Wybo Houkes
Biology and Philosophy 27 (3):401-417 (2012)
A deflationary perspective on theories of cultural evolution, in particular dual-inheritance theory, has recently been proposed by Lewens. On this 'pop-culture' analysis, dual-inheritance theorists apply population thinking to cultural phenomena, without claiming that cultural items evolve by natural selection. This paper argues against this pop-culture analysis of dual-inheritance theory. First, it focuses on recent dual-inheritance models of specific patterns of cultural change. These models exemplify population thinking without a commitment to natural selection of cultural items. There are grounds, however, for doubting the added explanatory value of the models in their disciplinary context—and thus grounds for engaging in other potentially explanatory projects based on dual-inheritance theory. One such project is suggested by advocates of the theory. Some of the motivational narratives that they offer can be interpreted as setting up an adaptationist project with regard to cumulative change in cultural items. We develop this interpretation here. On it, dual-inheritance theory features two interrelated selection processes, one on the level of genetically inherited learning mechanisms, another on the level of the cultural items transmitted through these mechanisms. This interpretation identifies a need for further modelling efforts, but also offers scope for enhancing the explanatory power of dual-inheritance theory
Evolution of Culture in Philosophy of Biology
Evolution of Phenomena in Philosophy of Biology
Mechanisms of Evolution in Philosophy of Biology
Niche Construction in Philosophy of Biology
ISBN(s)
link.springer.com (no proxy)
The Nature of Selection: Evolutionary Theory in Philosophical Focus.Elliott Sober - 1984 - University of Chicago Press.
Darwinian Populations and Natural Selection.Peter Godfrey-Smith - 2009 - Oxford University Press.
Not by Genes Alone: How Culture Transformed Human Evolution.Peter J. Richerson & Robert Boyd - 2005 - Chicago University Press.
The Growth of Biological Thought: Diversity, Evolution, and Inheritance.Ernst Mayr - 1982 - Belknap Press, 1982.
Darwin's Dangerous Idea.Daniel C. Dennett - 1996 - Behavior and Philosophy 24 (2):169-174.
Cultural Evolution.Tim Lewens - 2018 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Is Cultural Fitness Hopelessly Confused?Grant Ramsey & Andreas De Block - 2017 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 68 (2).
El Papel Del Pensamiento Poblacional En la Teoría de la Doble Herencia.Lorenzo Baravalle - 2017 - Scientiae Studia 15 (2):283.
The Intertwined Roles of Genes and Culture in Human Evolution.William Irons - 2009 - Zygon 44 (2):347-354.
Memes Revisited.Kim Sterelny - 2006 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 57 (1):145-165.
The Price Equation and Extended Inheritance.Heikki Helanterä & Tobias Uller - 2010 - Philosophy, Theory, and Practice in Biology 2 (20130604).
Cultural Inheritance and Fisher's "Fundamental Theorem" of Natural Selection.Samir Okasha - 2007 - Biological Theory 2 (3):290-299.
Is Cultural Evolution Lamarckian?Maria E. Kronfeldner - 2007 - Biology and Philosophy 22 (4):493-512.
Human Creativity, Cultural Evolution, and Niche Construction.Dean Keith Simonton - 2000 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 23 (1):159-160.
Aristotle on the Mechanisms of Inheritance.Devin Henry - 2006 - Journal of the History of Biology 39 (3):425-455.
Cultural Evolution.Matteo Mameli & Kim Sterelny - 2009 - Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
The Cultural Evolution of Socially Situated Cognition.Liane Gabora - manuscript
Why Did Art Behavior Evolve? A Cultural Sensory Exploitation Hypothesis.Jan Verpooten - unknown
The Trials of Life: Natural Selection and Random Drift.Denis M. Walsh, Andre Ariew & Tim Lewens - 2002 - Philosophy of Science 69 (3):452-473.
Nongenetic Selection and Nongenetic Inheritance.Matteo Mameli - 2004 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 55 (1):35-71.
A Dual Process Model for Cultural Differences in Thought.Hiroshi Yama, Miwa Nishioka, Tomoko Horishita, Yayoi Kawasaki & Junichi Taniguchi - 2007 - Mind and Society 6 (2):143-172.
July 12, 2000.Richard Powers - unknown
Biologists on Sociocultural Evolution: A Critical Analysis.Marion Blute - 1987 - Sociological Theory 5 (2):185-193.