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The publication in 1998 of Susan Blackmore's
bestselling The Meme Machine re-awakened the debate
over the highly controversial field of memetics and, in
the past couple of years there has been an explosion of
interest in 'memes'. However, the one thing noticeably missing
has been any kind of proper debate over the validity of
a concept regarded by many as scientifically suspect.
Darwinizing Culture: The Status of Memetics
as a Science pits leading intellectuals (both supporters
and opponents of meme theory) against each other to battle
it out, and state their case. With a Foreword by Daniel
Dennett, and contributions from Dan Sperber, David Hull,
Robert Boyd, Susan Blackmore, Henry Plotkin, and others,
the result is a thrilling and challenging debate that will
perhaps mark a turning point for the field, and for future
research.
Superbly edited by Robert Aunger, Darwinizing
Culture is a thought-provoking book that will fascinate,
stimulate (and occasionally perhaps infuriate) a broad range
of readers including psychologists, biologists, philosophers,
linguists, and anthropologists.
Robert Aunger is at the Department of
Biological Anthropology, University of Cambridge.
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