Die geisteswissenschaftliche Inanspruchnahme der Evolutionsbiologie

The essay analyzes the current trend of viewing cultural phenomena from the perspective of evolutionary biology. It focuses on reconstructing claims from neo-naturalistic approaches and assesses their relevance for the humanities. The essay’s historical overview distinguishes four phases in these evolutionary accounts of cultural phenomena. An in-depth analysis looks at positions recently taken by scholars from the humanities, in particular Karl Eibl, Winfried Menninghaus, Horst Bredekamp and Wolfgang Welsch. The critique of their positions is directed at their interpretations of biological theories and at instances of restrictive fundamentalism that posit the biological perspective as more fundamental DOI 10.1515/zksp-2014-0003 ZKSP 2014; 1(1): 40–80