caa a22 4500 469051345 CHVBK 20180323132831.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170328e19921201xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/BF02734056 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/BF02734056 Crippen Timothy Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Mary Washington College, 22401-5358, Fredericksburg, VA aut An evolutionary critique of cultural analysis in sociology [Elektronische Daten] [Timothy Crippen] A noteworthy development that has transpired in American sociology in the past quarter century has been the increasingly sophisticated interest in the analysis of human cultural systems. Sadly, however, these analyses reveal that social scientists rarely appreciate the profoundly evolutionary aspects of human culture. The chief purpose of this essay is to address this shortcoming and to offer some tentative suggestions toward its rectification. The essay begins by briefly reviewing recent developments in the analysis of cultural systems, primarily by reference to the influential work of Wuthnow. Second, a common flaw in these approaches is addressed—namely, the absence of any recognition of the value of grounding sociocultural theory in an informed evolutionary framework—and the case is made that this shortcoming is avoidable, even within the context of the intellectual traditions of the social sciences. Third, the evolutionary foundations of human cultural behavior are explored in terms of an analysis of relevant theoretical and empirical developments in the evolutionary neurosciences. Fourth, the value of these insights is illustrated by reference to an evolutionary critique of a recent and thought-provoking contribution to the study of modern political culture—Douglas and Wildavsky's analysis ofRisk and Culture. Finally, the article concludes by emphasizing the value of and the necessity for incorporating evolutionary reasoning into the domain of sociocultural theory. Walter de Gruyter, Inc, 1992 Cultural evolution nationallicence Culture theory nationallicence Reductionism nationallicence Sectarianism nationallicence Sociobiology nationallicence Symbolization nationallicence Reification nationallicence Human Nature Springer-Verlag 3/4(1992-12-01), 379-412 1045-6767 3:4<379 1992 3 12110 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02734056 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02734056 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 100 1- Crippen Timothy Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Mary Washington College, 22401-5358, Fredericksburg, VA aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Human Nature Springer-Verlag 3/4(1992-12-01), 379-412 1045-6767 3:4<379 1992 3 12110 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer