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The Imagined World Made Real: Towards a Natural Science of Culture
 
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The Imagined World Made Real: Towards a Natural Science of Culture (Hardcover)

by H.C. Plotkin (Author)
3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 300 pages
  • Publisher: Allen Lane (7 Mar 2002)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0713994088
  • ISBN-13: 978-0713994087
  • Product Dimensions: 24.2 x 16.7 x 2.9 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,339,798 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
  • See Complete Table of Contents

Product Description

Review

Ten years ago, Henry Plotkin wrote The Nature of Knowledge, a popular science book which was concerned with exploring and explaining adaptations, instinct and the evolution of human intelligence. Since then he has repeatedly returned to this, and similar, themes, using works such as Evolution in Mind and Darwin Machines to explore the roles of nature, nurture and evolution on the human psyche. Here he continues his thesis, broadening the depth and scope of his studies to include recent work on genetics and the human genome project. Plotkin writes with purpose and focus, weaving together topics such as the theory of mind, imitation, behavioural ecology and memetics (the study of cultural analogues of genes). The ideas he deals with are complex, yet he doesn't pull his punches or simplify his arguments. Readers who enjoyed Matt Ridley's Nature Via Nurture will find this a similarly engaging and intriguing book. Seen in context, it is not so much a stand-alone volume as another chapter in an ever-expanding body of work. The Imagined World takes us one step closer to Plotkin's ultimate aim of developing a 'natural science of culture', which will pull together psychology, anthropology and biology, rather than continuing to see them as separate and unrelated sciences. (Kirkus UK)


Product Description

Can the insights of science provide a proper understanding of human culture, or must the analysis of culture be left to the so-called human sciences - anthropology, psychology, or sociology? "The Imagined World Made Real" is an attempt to marry the human and biological sciences, bridging the gulf between these various disciplines. The theory of evolution provides the bridge. The text can be used as an introduction to evolutionary theory and its analysis of human nature, offering a unified approach to the natural and human sciences.

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3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Constructionist sociobiology, 29 Dec 2003
By Jippu (Helsinki, Finlande) - See all my reviews
Henry Plotkin is professor of psychobiology and as the name implies, tries to present a synthesis of biology and culture in The imagined world made real. Plotkin is well versed in the evolutionary theory of mind and its relevance to cultural theory. He discusses in an especially interesting way intelligence and its relevance. Also his presentation of Vygotsky's ideas makes him exceptional. He discusses interestingly the well-known problem of group-level vs. individuals as the unit of adaptation. Plotkin's work in exceptional in that he believes this synthesis is essentially a two-way road. Biology will also benefit from understanding of culture and most especially from the idea of social construction. For Plotkin "culture is an expression of human intelligence constrained by the advantages of group-level adaptation". I strongly doubt that group-level adaptation is a workable concept and that constructionism can really be conciled with evolutionary theory, but otherwise Plotkin's work is a good read. And it definitely will not scare sociologists, who are treated with consideration
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