Date: Fri, 5 Dec 1997 04:53:29 -0500
From: Paul Marsden <PMarsden@compuserve.com>
Subject: Lamarkian Inheritance
To: "INTERNET:memetics@mmu.ac.uk" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
The lit review for my thesis (Darwinian Minds, Selves and Societies), whi=
ch
should be finished by Xmas includes a section on Lamarckian *inheritance=
*
(not evolution, which I maintain is Darwinian (a la Cziko)) and I'll send=
you a copy if you think it could be useful
=2E =
First references to Lamarkian social inheritance include
Herbert Spencer and W.G Sumner, and of course Darwin himself.
Benjamin Kidd in 1894 in Social Evolution states.
=
"Improved artillery, like improved teeth, will enable the group to which =
it
belongs to extirpate or subdue its competitors. But in another respect
there is an obvious difference. For the improved teeth belong only to th=
e
individuals in whom they appear and to the descendants to whom they are
transmitted by inheritance; but the improved artillery may be adopted by =
a
group of individuals who form a continuous society with the original
inventor"
Much of the work that came out of Social Darwinism was based on the
Lamarkian notion of inheritance.
For a good overview of Lamarckism in Social Evolution, I commend to you
Kaye, HL 1986, The Social Meaning of Modern Biology
(VB Press New York)
Cheers
Paul Marsden
Graduate Research Centre in the Social Sciences
University of Sussex
*NB NEW personal email*
pmarsden@msn.com
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