A Brief History and Outline of Dual Inheritance Theory
A Brief History and Outline of Dual Inheritance Theory
Dual Inheritance Theory is traced starting from the application of mathematical models drawn from the field of population biology to the charting of competing cultural ideas over time pioneered by Luca Cavalli-Sforza and Marcus Feldman. The contributions of a number of subsequent thinkers to the development of contemporary dual inheritance theory are presented. These include Richard Dawkins and the concept of memes; Donald Campbell and the idea of selection at the level of social systems; E.O. Wilson’s move from sociobiology to group selection; D.S. Wilson and his conception of society as an “organism”; William Durham’s coevolutionary theory; and the Dual Inheritance Theory of Richerson and Boyd. These theorists depart sufficiently from reductionisticneo-Darwinism to make a rapprochement with socio-cultural anthropology possible.
Keywords: Dual Inheritance Theory, memes, coevolution, Cavalli-Sforza and Feldman, Richard Dawkins, Donald T.Campbell, E.O.Wilson, D.S. Wilson, William Durham, Richersonand Boyd
Chicago Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
