The Ontology of Evolutionary Theory: An Analytic-Historical Approach to Abstract Models of Evolution; a Case Study of Cultural Evolution

Proponents of the abstract models of evolution believe that there is one model at work at all levels of selection in biology and other evolutionary phenomena in different non-biological areas. If any of the models fit the actual dynamics of the phenomena generally known to be evolutionary, or at least approximate them, then that single model can explain (and even predict) many diverse phenomena in those areas. However, such models have been subject to serious objections. The most important one is their empirical inadequacy. But, some of the critics go so far as to claim that the endeavor to develop an abstract model for evolutionary change is utterly in vain. In this paper, I try to make a case for the claim that although current models of evolution may be empirically inadequate, the whole project of finding an abstract model for evolutionary change is defendable. To show this, I focus on cultural evolution; a case which I consider to be the result of taking the abstract models seriously