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THE BEHAVIORAL THEORY OF SOCIOCULTUR...

LANGTON, JOHN, III.

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THE BEHAVIORAL THEORY OF SOCIOCULTURAL EVOLUTION: ARTICULATION, APPLICATIONS, AND POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS. (VOLUMES I AND II).

Record Type:	Language materials, printed : Monograph/item
Title/Author:	THE BEHAVIORAL THEORY OF SOCIOCULTURAL EVOLUTION: ARTICULATION, APPLICATIONS, AND POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS. (VOLUMES I AND II)./
Author:	LANGTON, JOHN, III.
Description:	527 p.
Notes:	Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-09, Section: A, page: 4163.
Contained By:	Dissertation Abstracts International41-09A.
Subject:	Sociology, Theory and Methods. -
Online resource:	http://pqdd.sinica.edu.tw/twdaoapp/servlet/advanced?query=8106283

THE BEHAVIORAL THEORY OF SOCIOCULTURAL EVOLUTION: ARTICULATION, APPLICATIONS, AND POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS. (VOLUMES I AND II).
LANGTON, JOHN, III.

THE BEHAVIORAL THEORY OF SOCIOCULTURAL EVOLUTION: ARTICULATION, APPLICATIONS, AND POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS. (VOLUMES I AND II). - 527 p.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-09, Section: A, page: 4163.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Georgetown University, 1980.

The principal task of this dissertation is to demonstrate that the social sciences have created a theory which makes the evolution of sociocultural systems as comprehensible as Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection made the evolution of species. More precisely, the central thesis of this study is that the synthesis of an abstract, Darwinian model of systemic adaptation and certain principles of social learning established by behavioral psychology yields a theory of sociocultural evolution substantially similar to and scientifically as "good" as the theory of descent with modification articulated in On the Origin of Species.Subjects--Topical Terms:

626625
Sociology, Theory and Methods.

THE BEHAVIORAL THEORY OF SOCIOCULTURAL EVOLUTION: ARTICULATION, APPLICATIONS, AND POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS. (VOLUMES I AND II).
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035 $a (UMI)AAI8106283
035 $a AAI8106283
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100 1 $a LANGTON, JOHN, III. $3 1682046
245 1 4 $a THE BEHAVIORAL THEORY OF SOCIOCULTURAL EVOLUTION: ARTICULATION, APPLICATIONS, AND POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS. (VOLUMES I AND II).
300 $a 527 p.
500 $a Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-09, Section: A, page: 4163.
502 $a Thesis (Ph.D.)--Georgetown University, 1980.
520 $a The principal task of this dissertation is to demonstrate that the social sciences have created a theory which makes the evolution of sociocultural systems as comprehensible as Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection made the evolution of species. More precisely, the central thesis of this study is that the synthesis of an abstract, Darwinian model of systemic adaptation and certain principles of social learning established by behavioral psychology yields a theory of sociocultural evolution substantially similar to and scientifically as "good" as the theory of descent with modification articulated in On the Origin of Species.
520 $a The argument used to defend this thesis has four major dimensions. First, it is analytical in the sense that it seeks to establish that the primary generalizations of the behavioral theory of sociocultural evolution, which refer respectively to the processes of enculturation, innovation, sociocultural selection, and the struggle for reinforcement, are closely analogous to the basic principles of Darwin's theory, which refer respectively to the processes of inheritance, variation, natural selection, and the struggle for existence. Second, the argument is empirical in the sense that it seeks to indicate that the factual and nomological evidence which can now be marshaled in support of each of the primary generalizations of the behavioral theory is at least comparable to the evidence which Darwin mustered in support of the corresponding principles of his theory. Third, the argument is methodological in the sense that it seeks to demonstrate that the behavioral and Darwinian theories of evolution are equivalent in logical structure, explanatory power and susceptibility to (piecemeal) falsification. Finally, the argument is philosophical in the sense that it seeks to establish that the behavioral theory deserves scientific status as much as Darwin's theory does. In sum, this dissertation seeks to present a comprehensive argument which will substantiate the contention that the social sciences have laid the foundation of a viable theory of sociocultural evolution, and that they have reached, in effect, a "Darwinian" stage of theoretical development.
520 $a The behavioral theory of sociocultural evolution is not a new theory. Indeed, it was first adumbrated by William James exactly one hundred years ago. Yet, despite its age and growing popularity, the behavioral theory remains in an essentially primitive state of articulation. Its behavioral and Darwinian components have not been thoroughly integrated, and almost no attention has been given to the crucial problem of explaining, in terms of reinforcement principles, why the positive selection of a novel pattern of thought or action usually precipitates the negative selection of formerly entrenched elements within a sociocultural complex. Little attention, moreover, has been focused on the methodological and scientific status of "behavioral Darwinism," and no real effort has been made to test the theory's explanatory mettle by applying it to complex and puzzling cases of sociocultural change. Finally, with exception of B.F. Skinner, no social theorist has attempted to assess the utility of the behavioral theory of evolution as a practical and political tool for creating more desirable social orders. In attempting to establish its central thesis, this dissertation should help to solve these more specific problems.
590 $a School code: 0076.
650 4 $a Sociology, Theory and Methods. $3 626625
690 $a 0344
710 2 $a Georgetown University. $3 1017582
773 0 $t Dissertation Abstracts International $g 41-09A.
790 $a 0076
791 $a Ph.D.
792 $a 1980
856 4 0 $u http://pqdd.sinica.edu.tw/twdaoapp/servlet/advanced?query=8106283