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Cultural evolution is not equivalent to Darwinian evolution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2006

Dwight W. Read*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA90095http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/anthro/faculty/read/

Abstract:

Darwinian evolution, defined as evolution arising from selection based directly on the properties of individuals, does not account for cultural constructs providing the organizational basis of human societies. The difficulty with linking Darwinian evolution to structural properties of cultural constructs is exemplified with kinship terminologies, a cultural construct that structures and delineates the domain of kin in human societies.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006

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