?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Kinship+and+evolved+psychological+dispositions%3A+The+Mother's+Brother+controversy+reconsidered.&rft.creator=Bloch%2C+Maurice&rft.creator=Sperber%2C+Dan&rft.subject=Sociobiology&rft.subject=Evolutionary+Psychology&rft.description=The+article+revisits+the+old+controversy+concerning+the+relation+of+the+mother's+brother+and+sister's+son+in+patrilineal+societies+in+the+light+both+of+anthropological+criticisms+of+the+very+notion+of+kinship+and+of+evolutionary+and+epidemiological+approaches+to+culture.+It+argues+that+the+ritualized+patterns+of+behavior+that+had+been+discussed+by+Radcliffe-Brown%2C+Goody+and+others+are+to+be+explained+in+terms+of+the+interaction+of+a+variety+of+factors%2C+some+local+and+historical%2C+others+pertaining+to+general+human+dispositions.+In+particular%2C+an+evolved+disposition+to+favor+relatives+can+contribute+to+the+development+and+stabilization+of+these+behaviors%2C+not+by+directly+generating+them%2C+but+by+making+them+particularly+%22catchy%22+and+resilient.+In+this+way%2C+it+is+possible+to+recognize+both+that+cultural+representations+and+practices+are+specific+to+a+community+at+a+time+in+its+history+(rather+than+mere+tokens+of+a+general+type)%2C+and+that+they+are%2C+in+essential+respects%2C+grounded+in+the+common+evolved+psychology+of+human+beings.&rft.date=2001&rft.type=Preprint&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.format=text%2Fhtml&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F1885%2F1%2Fmother-s-brother.htm&rft.identifier=++Bloch%2C+Maurice+and+Sperber%2C+Dan++(2001)+Kinship+and+evolved+psychological+dispositions%3A+The+Mother's+Brother+controversy+reconsidered.++%5BPreprint%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F1885%2F