Book,
Evolutionary systems and society: A general theory of life, mind, and culture
Duke University Press, Durham, (1989)
Abstract
This work is a bold new effort to embrace all aspects of life--molecular, cellular, behavioral, and cultural--with formulation of a general theory of evolution that extends classical Darwinian theory to include human society.
'Evolutionary Systems and Society 'describes Csanyi's replicative theory of biological and cultural evolution, which represents a major theoretical synthesis of the life sciences and the social sciences. The work spans a vast intellectual and scientific territory, from systems sciences through genetics, cell biology, ethnology, and evolutionary biology to cultural anthropology, psychology, economics, and culture. Csanyi demonstrates that the interactions of components in the biological realm (molecules, cells, organisms, ecosystems) and in societies (people, artifacts, ideas) all have a replicative organization. This replicative organization (a mechanism for information storage and reproduction) exists in human societies in a form analogous to biological systems.
Just as the general theory of evolution helps explains the spontaneous emergence of replicative functions and organizations in biological systems, it can be employed to evaluate new departures in social systems. Csanyi uses this concept to explore the origins and evolution of human society and to explain the replicative paradigm to processes of the animal and human mind and to culture. He points out that human culture has all the criteria of a biological system. Its basic components--people, ideas, and man-made artifacts--functionally form a complex replicative network that behaves as systematic unit that evolves at an ever-increasing rate.
In summarizing the implications of his theory, Csanyimaintains that coordinated replication governed by a regulatory system is necessary if we are to contain the possibility of life-ending nuclear war and insure human survival.
