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Cultural Evolution and Social Ontology: Interdisciplinary Perspectives book cover

1st Edition

Cultural Evolution and Social Ontology Interdisciplinary Perspectives

Edited By Martina Valković, Thomas A.C. Reydon Copyright 2026
276 Pages 8 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

276 Pages 8 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge
Also available as eBook on:
This volume explores connections between two growing and complementary fields of research: cultural evolutionary theory and social ontology. It sheds light on the ontological aspects of cultural evolution that so far have been largely neglected and raises questions for social ontology regarding the relevance of evolutionary aspects of social phenomena. This volume shows that cultural... Read more

List of Contributors

Acknowledgements

 

1. Introduction: Building Bridges Between Fields - Martina Valković and Thomas A.C. Reydon

 

Part I: Metaperspectives

 

2. Evolutionary Theory in the Sociocultural Domain and its Critics - Simon Lohse and Martina Valković

 

3. Naturalized Social Ontology and Cultural Evolution - Richard Lauer

 

4. Social Functions: Evolutionary and Non-Evolutionary - Frank Hindriks

 

Part II: Power

 

5. Can Cultural Evolution Accommodate Power? Race, Gender, and Lewontin’s Critique - Azita Chellappoo

 

6. Rethinking the Concept of ‘Power’ within Cultural Evolution: Cultural Niches as Relational Social Structures - Karim Baraghith and Finn Jordan

 

7. Telic Power and Academic Excellence - Åsa Burman and Nemi Pelgrom

 

Part III: Interactions and Collectives

 

8. The Evolution of Coordination and Common Ground - Bart Geurts

 

9. Collective Intentionality: From Social Ontology to Cultural Evolution and Back - Marc Slors

 

10. Evolution and Social Ontology: The Modern Firm as a Major Transition in Cultural Evolution - J.W. Stoelhorst

 

Part IV: Outlook

 

11. Bridging Research in Cultural Evolution and Social Ontology: A Perspective on Future Work - Thomas A.C. Reydon and Martina Valković

 

Index

Biography

Martina Valković is a visiting researcher at the Institute of Philosophy, Leibniz University Hannover, Germany, and at Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

Thomas A.C. Reydon is Professor of Philosophy of Science and Technology in the Institute of Philosophy and the Centre for Ethics and Law in the Life Sciences (CELLS) at Leibniz University Hannover, Germany, and Associated Faculty in the Socially Engaged Philosophy of Science (SEPOS) group at Michigan State University, USA.

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