No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
Philosophy or science of societies?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 April 2025
Abstract
While ambitious, interesting, and generally corresponding to usage in archaeology history, and anthropology, Moffett's paper seems more philosophy of science (conceptual analysis) than science (their use in explanations). It avoids explanations of how “markers of identity” and “their recognition” are acquired (e.g., by biological evolution, individual learning, social learning, or sociocultural evolution) and what the concept of “a society” explains.
- Type
- Open Peer Commentary
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press
References
Blute, M. (2001). A single-process learning theory. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24, 529–531.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blute, M. (2011). Super cooperators? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 26, 624–625. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2011.07.014Google Scholar
Blute, M. (2016). Evolution and learning: A response to Watson and Szathmáry. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 31, 891–892. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2016.10.002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blute, M. (2017). Three modes of evolution by natural selection and drift: A new or an extended evolutionary synthesis? Biological Theory, 12, 67–71. doi:10.1007/s13752-017-0264-8Google Scholar
Blute, M. (2024). Gabriel Tarde and cultural evolution: The consequence of neglecting our Mendel. Journal of Classical Sociology, 24(2), 152–170. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468795X221136830Google Scholar
Blute, M., & Jordan, F.M. (2018) The evolutionary approach to history: Sociocultural phylogenetics. Chpt. 28. In Hopcroft, R. L. (ed.) The Oxford handbook of evolution, biology and society, (pp. 621–640). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kershenbaum, A. (2024). Why animals talk: The new science of animal communication. Penguin Press.Google Scholar
Riris, P., Silva, F., Crema, E., Palmisano, A., Robinson, E., Siegel, P. E., … Ren, X. (2024). Frequent disturbances enhanced the resilience of past human populations. Nature, 629, 837–842. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07354-8CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Whiten, A. (2022). Blind alleys and fruitful pathways in the comparative study of animal cognition. Physics of Life Reviews 43, 211–238. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.plrev.2022.10.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Target article
What is a society? Building an interdisciplinary perspective and why that's important
Related commentaries (24)
A nation by any other name: A failure to focus on function
Belonging to a community of moral values as a key criterion of society
Beyond biology: A sociological stance on what is society
Collective memories and understandings of human societies
Definitions and cultural dynamics in understanding “societies”
Do boundaries matter so much for societies?
Group identity without social interactions?
How an interdisciplinary study of societies can develop a comprehensive understanding of the function of deceptive behavior
Identity groups, perceived group continuity, and schism
Identity is probably too complicated to serve as a useful criterion for defining society
Multi-species societies
Philosophy or science of societies?
Psychological mechanisms for individual recognition- and anonymous-societies in humans and other animals
Revisiting the spaces of societies and the cooperation that sustains them
Societal inferences from the physical world
Societies have functions for individuals and collectives
Societies of the open ocean without territories
Societies, identities, and macrodemes
Society: An anthropological perspective
The family as the primary social group
Understanding the jaggedness in social complexity is more important
Vocalizations are ideal identity signals
What is a society in the case of multilevel societies?
Why societies are important and grow so large: Tribes, nations, and teams
Author response
A society as a clearly membered, enduring, territory-holding group