May 10,
12:00pm, U6/372, Nathalie Gontier (Vrije Universiteit, Brussel):
"Cultural evolution models and the extended synthesis".
2:30-4:00pm, U6, IV floor, Room 4288, "A
discussion on evolutionary epistemology: Employing evolution to understand
knowledge".
Is it legitimate to talk about "cultural traits"? Is it possible to
build models of their diffusion, and are they explanatory or useful? Are
there differences and peculiarities in various aspects of culture that
are studied by different disciplines? By cultural trait we can provisionally
intend any trait whose production in individuals depends to some extent
on social learning. For example, famous and foundational models of
"cultural evolution" such as those by Cavalli Sforza and Feldman (1973,
1981), but also the contemporary models by Richerson, Boyd and
colleagues, are actually models of the diffusion of socially transmitted,
discrete traits. The idea of diffusion is also present in the tradition
of cultural anthropology (although probably with a controversial status).
This is remarkable for our interdisciplinary research because cultural anthropology
is, on the one hand, the elective field whose object of study is culture,
and, on the other hand, tendentially hostile to any idea presented under
the label of "cultural evolution". To be clear, we do not think to
cultural trait diffusion as an exhaustive theory of culture and cultural
change. We rather believe that the diffusion of cultural traits can be
ground for a large interdisciplinary encounter, at least (but not limited
to) including evolutionary modeling, anthropology, linguistics, musicology,
economics, geography, archaeology, but also biology and
computer science, information theory. Common epistemological problems
can be declined and addressed, such as the delimitation of traits and
groups, or the factors influencing diffusion; a particularly interesting
issue is how cultural traits are modified through their diffusion, a
phenomenon which includes what is commonly called "lamarckian evolution"
at the level of the individuals (i.e., the heritability of individually-achieved
innovations). In this multidisciplinary context, evolutionary models can
be regarded as useful in that they offer manipulable prospective
histories, which can in turn be employed as guidelines for restrospective
reconstructions in other fields. Some fields may get cross-cut attention: geography is an example, since one of the key points of cultural
diffusion is the idea that traits travel in space. A remarkable theme,
however, is the existence of other spaces (e.g., the social space, the
cyberspace and so on) where distance is measured in ways that are equally
or more important for cultural diffusion.
April 19, 12:00pm, U6/367, Seminar:
Benedikt Hermann (European Commission): "Behavioural
economics is growing up. First experiences in behavioural economics applied
to European policies" - CANCELLED
October 13, 12pm, Room U6/372
(Building U6, 3rd floor), Seminar: Marco Grasso and Simona
Sacchi(UNIMIB, The morality of climate change: consequentialism,
deontology and responsibility.
