Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T19:22:12.224Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

When is the spread of a cultural trait due to cultural group selection? The case of religious syncretism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2016

Carlos Santana ,
Raj Patel ,
Shereen Chang  and
Michael Weisberg
Carlos Santana
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6304. [email protected]@[email protected]@phil.upenn.eduhttp://www.phil.upenn.edu/~weisberg/Home.html
Raj Patel
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6304. [email protected]@[email protected]@phil.upenn.eduhttp://www.phil.upenn.edu/~weisberg/Home.html
Shereen Chang
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6304. [email protected]@[email protected]@phil.upenn.eduhttp://www.phil.upenn.edu/~weisberg/Home.html
Michael Weisberg
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6304. [email protected]@[email protected]@phil.upenn.eduhttp://www.phil.upenn.edu/~weisberg/Home.html
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The reproduction of cultural systems in cases where cultural group selection may occur is typically incomplete, with only certain cultural traits being adopted by less successful cultural groups. Why a particular trait and not another is transmitted might not be explained by cultural group selection. We explore this issue through the case of religious syncretism.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 39 , 2016 , e50
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Madsen, W. (1967) Religious syncretism. In: Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 6, ed. Wauchope, R., pp. 369–91. University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Watanabe, J. M. (1990) From saints to shibboleths: Image, structure, and identity in Maya religious syncretism. American Ethnologist 17(1):131–50.Google Scholar