In a further development of the nature-nurture debate, this collection of articles questions how the human mind influences the content and organization of culture. In the study of mental activity, can the effects of evolution and history be teased apart? Evolutionary psychologists argue that cultural transmission is constrained by our genetic inheritance. Few social and cultural anthropologists have found this argument to be relevant to their work and many would doubt its validity. This book uniquely pitches the arguments for innatism against ethnographic perspectives that call into question the theoretical foundations of orthodox evolutionary biology and cognitive science. Ultimately the aim of the debate is to create an original set of mutually compatible theories that will open up new areas for interdisciplinary research.

Also available in hardback, 9781859734278 GBP50.00 (April, 2001)

About the Author
Harvey Whitehouse The Queen's University at Belfast

Reviews
'Whitehouse suggests that the exploration of cognition as self-organized and emergent is a potentially fruitful one for anthropology as well as psychology.'The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute



Book Information
ISBN 9781859734322
Author Harvey Whitehouse
Format Paperback
Page Count 224
Imprint Berg Publishers
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 453g