Tang provides a coherent and systematic exploration of social evolution as a phenomenon and as a paradigm. He critically builds on existing discussions on social evolution, while drawing from a wide range of disciplines, including archaeology, evolutionary anthropology, sociology, economics, political science, the philosophy of social sciences, and evolutionary biology.
Clarifying the relationship between biological evolution and social evolution, Tang lays bare the ontological and epistemological principles of the social evolutionary paradigm. He also presents operational principles and tools for deploying this paradigm to understand empirical puzzles about human society.
This is a vital resource for students, practitioners, and philosophers of all social sciences.
Preface
Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Biological Evolution: From Basics to Extended Synthesis
Chapter 3. Social Evolution as a Phenomenon
Chapter 4. The Social Evolution Paradigm
Chapter 5. A Critique of Existing Evolutionary Social Sciences
Chapter 6. What Social Evolution Paradigm can Do
Chapter 7. In Lieu of Conclusion: The Power of SEP
Appendix A. What Haven’t Social Sciences been more evolutionary?
Appendix B. Geno-social sciences as Sociobiology Redux
References
Index
Biography
Shiping Tang is Fudan Distinguished Professor and Dr. Seaker Chan Chair Professor at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Fudan University, China. He also holds a "Chang-Jiang/Cheung Kong Scholar" Distinguished Professorship from the Chinese Ministry of Education. His earlier book, The Social Evolution of International Politics (2013), received the International Studies Association's "Annual Best Book Award" in 2015.
"Shiping Tang’s insightful and critical review of the previous evolutionary arguments in the social sciences is a must read for scholars interested in going beyond generalized Darwinism and moving toward adopting 'generalized evolutionism.' His focus on niche construction and human agency in reshaping environments represents a major contribution to the study of social evolution."
Howard E. Aldrich, Kenan Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
"For much too long social science has neglected evolutionary theories, which are both powerful and appropriate to many of our puzzles. In a systematic treatment that is both nuanced and stimulating, Shiping Tang puts the evolutionary approach through its paces and shows how selection, variance, and inheritance operate to explain both macro and micro social developments."
Robert Jervis, Aldai E. Stevenson Professor of International Politics, Columbia University, and author of System Effects: Complexity in Political and Social Life.
"Deeply researched and powerfully argued, On Social Evolution posits that evolutionism triumphs over all other explanations of the natural and the social world. Shiping Tang has succeeded marvelously in developing and defending theoretically this bold claim. All of us should read and wrestle with this challenging and outstanding book."
Peter J. Katzenstein, Walter S. Carpenter, Jr. Professor of International Studies, Cornell University, USA
"To conclude, Tang’s endeavour is valuable insofar as his in-depth knowledge of biology and social sciences has led him to put forward a theoretical proposal about social evolution as a phenomenon and as a paradigm that is compelling and that had not been properly formulated hitherto. The book should give many social scientists pause to evolutionary approaches. It convincingly shows that social scientists should not throw the baby out with the bathwater: despite misleading applications, evolutionary insights can be successfully used for grasping many aspects of human societies." - Alexandre Tawil, Oeconomia
