Abrantes, Paulo (2011) Culture and Transitions in Individuality. In: [2012] Seventh Quadrennial Fellows Conference of the Center for Philosophy of Science (12-14 June 2012; Mugla, Turkey).
Abstract
Some "major" evolutionary transitions have been described as transitions in individuality. In this depiction, natural selection might bring about new kinds of individuals, whose evolutionary dynamics takes place in a novel way. Using a categorization proposed by Godfrey-Smith (2009), this transition is fully accomplished when a new "paradigmatic" Darwinian population emerges. In this paper I investigate whether at some point in the evolution in the hominin lineage a transition of this kind might have happened, by assuming some of the theses of dual inheritance theory, especially about the role played by a conformist bias. I argue that Godfrey-Smith misses in his book a scenario in which conformism is one of the preconditions for a transition towards a Darwinian population of cultural groups.
| Item Type: | Conference or Workshop Item (UNSPECIFIED) |
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| Additional Information: | Published in: Dutra, L. H.; Meyer Luz, A. (orgs.), Temas de Filosofia do Conhecimento. Coleção Rumos da Epistemologia, v. 11. Florianópolis: NEL/UFSC, 2011, p. 395- 408. |
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| Keywords: | transitions in individuality, cultural evolution, cultural groups, darwinian populations, dual inheritance theory |
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| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Anthropology
Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Psychology
Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory |
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| Conferences and Volumes: | [2012] Seventh Quadrennial Fellows Conference of the Center for Philosophy of Science (12-14 June 2012; Mugla, Turkey) |
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| Depositing User: | Dr. Paulo Abrantes |
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| Date Deposited: | 07 Jun 2012 08:47 |
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| Last Modified: | 07 Jun 2012 08:47 |
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| Item ID: | 9136 |
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| Official URL: | http://www.cfh.ufsc.br/~nel/rumos.html |
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| URI: | http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/9136 |
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