Title:
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An evolutionary analysis of evolutionary sociology
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The general topic of this research is scientific success and the form it might take
in sociology. The recent resurgence of evolutionary thinking across the social
sciences has potentially positive implications for sociology and its understanding
of social change. To evaluate this evolutionary turn in relation to sociology, I
focus on David Hull's evolutionary analysis of scientific change and success,
which claims that a social mechanism lies at the heart of the selection processes
that occur in science. What is good for the individual is what is good for science
as a whole, he argues, and it is descent that matters more in analyzing this
process than conceptual similarity. Hull believes such an evolutionary account
makes sense of both success and failure, though he doubts that sociology can
be considered a science. My contention is that by applying his evolutionary
analysis to evolutionary sociology, not only can his claims be tested and
modified, but also that insights into the sociology of knowledge will be
generated. To achieve this, I examine a large range of texts and commentary on
evolutionary theory and sociology from the early nineteenth century until the
recent present. All of these theories of evolution exhibit a pattern of problematic
conceptualization, which includes special categories of human action,
developmentalism, and inadequate methods. Despite each generation of
evolutionary sociology recognizing the pattern as producing invalid theory, these
flaws are consistently replicated. I conclude that such findings suggest, first of
all, that sociology is not organized collectively but is an individualistic discipline;
secondly, that Hull's evolutionary framework needs major reconstruction around
the areas of fitness (mere reproductive success, as in evolutionary sociology's
case) and fit (of theory to evidence, accompanied by the reconstruction of
concepts that do not fit the empirical findings -a process that tends not to
happen in evolutionary sociology); and thirdly, that the evolutionary turn in the
social sciences offers an opportunity for a reorganization of approach in
sociology and its interdisciplinary engagements.
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