The metaphor of the gene in the conceptions of cultural evolution

Abstract

An integral feature of any theorizing about cultural phenomena is the desire to identify discrete segments of cultural products. One of the most famous examples of antiquity is the conception of Plato’s ideas. Today, many approaches in the humanities have focused around this cognitive trend, including semiotics, the history of concepts, discursive research, etc. This indicates the fundamental nature of questions about the essence, properties, relationships, and volume of these elementary units. In particular, the need to define the subject and the elementary level of evolutionary development is of fundamental importance for the development of an evolutionary epistemological theory, which in the second half of the 20th century was considered by most supporters of the theory of evolution to be a “gene”, which also turns out to be a quantity, a measure of variability. The debate about what exactly should be considered the analogy of a gene in the development of culture and science has only intensified over the past decades. This article focuses on the analysis of the historical development of the main problems that arise during attempts to conceptualize genetic and cultural evolution. Special attention is paid to the contradictory relations within the coevolution of nature and culture.