Can culture be considered in continuity with natural evolution? Susan Blackmore's memetic approach and its critiques

Tez Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: İstanbul Şehir Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Cultural Studies, Türkiye

Tez Danışmanı: Mahmut Mutman

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2012

Tezin Dili: İngilizce

Özet:

This work is about cultural evolution. Memetics and particularly Susan Blackmore's memetic approach is examined as an example of a Darwinian Theory of cultural evolution. It is questioned whether Susan Blackmore's account of cultural evolution has original insights and whether this account is sufficient for explaining the phenomenon of culture. Her account is examined theoretically and conceptually. This dissertation consists of four main parts. In the first part, the forerunners and the background of Susan Blackmore are outlined. In the second part, key points of Susan Blackmore's memetic approach are summarized. The third part is devoted to criticisms of Susan Blackmore's memetic approach from within the memetics and some of the shortcomings of it are reviewed. Finally, coherency of this memetic approach is evaluated in the perspective of social sciences and its implications for cultural studies are discussed. It is concluded that Blackmore's theory of cultural evolution that takes gene-based evolution as a model has a number of shortcomings to shed a proper light on the matter of culture