Ontological and Methodological Limitations of Certain Cultural Evolution Approaches

IF 0.6 1区哲学 Q4 ETHICS

Philosophy of the Social Sciences Pub Date : 2023-10-18 DOI:10.1177/00483931231208512

Martina Valković

引用次数: 0

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.

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某些文化进化方法的本体论和方法论局限性

最近，生物进化理论的概念和方法在人类文化和社会中的应用有所增加，其目的是通过将其描述为可简化为个人水平过程的群体水平现象来解释这些现象。我用Mesoudi的《文化进化》作为案例来反对这种观点。我认为，当涉及到文化和社会现象时，Mesoudi关于文化和社会的本体论假设是可疑的，他的方法论假设是不充分的。其结果是，这种研究文化的方法至少是不完整的，而且应用范围有限。

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来源期刊

Philosophy of the Social Sciences Multiple-

CiteScore

2.10

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0.00%

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期刊介绍： For more than four decades Philosophy of the Social Sciences has served as the international, interdisciplinary forum for current research, theory and debate on the philosophical foundations of the social services. Philosophy of the Social Sciences focuses on the central issues of the social sciences, including general methodology (explaining, theorizing, testing) the application of philosophy (especially individualism versus holism), the nature of rationality and the history of theories and concepts. Among the topics you''ll explore are: ethnomethodology, evolution, Marxism, phenomenology, postmodernism, rationality, relativism, scientific methods, and textual interpretations. Philosophy of the Social Sciences'' open editorial policy ensures that you''ll enjoy rigorous scholarship on topics viewed from many different-- and often conflicting-- schools of thought. No school, party or style of philosophy of the social sciences is favoured. Debate between schools is encouraged. Each issue presents submissions by distinguished scholars from a variety of fields, including: anthropology, communications, economics, history, linguistics, philosophy, psychology, and sociology. Each issue brings you in-depth discussions, symposia, literature surveys, translations, and review symposia of interest both to philosophyers concerned with the social sciences and to social scientists concerned with the philosophical foundations of their subjects.