Apart from its wealth of insight, cogent arguments, apposite illustrations, and lucid and entertaining prose, Explaining Culture also offers a glimpse of what cultural study might be: rather than foreclosing possibilities on the strength of received wisdom or a selective interdisciplinary which rules out so much interesting thinking, it makes its own start on the formulation of fresh, apparently basic but at the same time far-reaching research questions. Alan Durant
Sperber emphasizes macro-and micro-processes of distribution that make cultural transformation and individual development possible and most simply processes of replication. Sperber offers the beginnings of a naturalistic theory of both culture and religion that will interest students and scholars alike. Susan Henking, Hobart and William Smith Colleges Geneva
Explaining Culture is a good read. It is full of interesting suggestions on a wide range of anthropological and psychological issues. Kim Sterelny, Music and Letters, Vol 110, July 2001.
Introduction.
1. How to be a True Materialist in Anthropology.
2. Interpreting and Explaining Cultural Representations.
3. Anthropology and Psychology: Towards an Epidemiology of Representations.
4. The Epidemiology of Beliefs.
5. Selection and Attraction in Cultural Evolution.
6. Mental Modularity and Cultural Diversity.
Conclusion: What is at Stake?.
Notes.
References.
Index.