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Toward Generalized Evolutionism: Beyond “Generalized Darwinism” and Its Critics

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  • Shiping Tang

Abstract

This article seeks to transcend the debate regarding “generalized Darwinism” or “universal Darwinism” for the social sciences. Highlighting recent discoveries in evolutionary biology, the article argues that it is no longer tenable to insist that (neo-)Darwinism is the only proper doctrine for understanding biological evolution. Moreover, social evolution is much more than purely (neo-)Darwinian or (neo-)Lamarckian. As such, the debate on whether we deploy only (neo-)Darwinism or (neo-)Lamarckism — generalized or not — to understand social evolution is a red herring. Instead, social scientists should embrace “generalized evolutionism,” a more accommodating and versatile doctrine that subsumes “(generalized) Darwinism” or “(generalized) Lamarckism.” Empirical inquiries that deploy “generalized evolutionism” have shed important new light on some critical puzzles in human society: from institutional change to the foundation of economic development before 1500 AD, through the coming of the industrial revolution, to the evolution of the international system. More empirical efforts along this line of theorizing are needed.

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  • Shiping Tang, 2017. "Toward Generalized Evolutionism: Beyond “Generalized Darwinism” and Its Critics," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(3), pages 588-612, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:mes:jeciss:v:51:y:2017:i:3:p:588-612
    DOI: 10.1080/00213624.2017.1353871
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    Cited by:

    1. McMullen, Jeffery S., 2018. "Organizational hybrids as biological hybrids: Insights for research on the relationship between social enterprise and the entrepreneurial ecosystem," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 575-590.

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