Imitation as an inheritance system
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 364:2429-2443 (2009)
| Abstract | What is the evolutionary significance of the various mechanisms of imitation, emulation and social learning found in humans and other animals? This paper presents an advance in the theoretical resources for addressing that question, in the light of which standard approaches from the cultural evolution literature should be refocused. The central question is whether humans have an imitationbased inheritance system—a mechanism that has the evolutionary function of transmitting behavioural phenotypes reliably down the generations. To have the evolutionary power of an inheritance system, an imitiation-based mechanism must meet a range of demanding requirements. The paper goes on to review the evidence for and against the hypothesis that there is indeed an imitation-based inheritance system in humans. | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,631 |
| External links |
  Try with proxy. |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesElhanan Borenstein & Eytan Ruppin (2005). The Evolutionary Link Between Mirror Neurons and Imitation: An Evolutionary Adaptive Agents Model. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 28 (2):127-128.
Ehud Lamm, Inheritance Systems. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2012 Edition).
Scott Woodcock (2006). The Significance of Non-Vertical Transmission of Phenotype for the Evolution of Altruism. Biology and Philosophy 21 (2):213-234.
Devin Henry (2006). Aristotle on the Mechanisms of Inheritance. Journal of the History of Biology 39 (3):425-455.
Nicholas Shea, Ido Pen & Tobias Uller (2011). Three Epigenetic Information Channels and Their Different Roles in Evolution. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 24:1178-87.
Michael A. Arbib & James Bonaiuto (2007). From Grasping to Complex Imitation: Mirror Systems on the Path to Language. Mind and Society 7 (1):43-64.
Maria Kronfeldner (2007). Is Cultural Evolution Lamarckian? Biology and Philosophy 22 (4):493-512.
Carla E. Kary (1982). Can Darwinian Inheritance Be Extended From Biology to Epistemology? PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1982:356 - 369.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2009-11-08Total downloads20 ( #61,410 of 548,972 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #63,511 of 548,972 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
