Author Archives: Seth Abrutyn

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About Seth Abrutyn

Theorist. Institutional evolutionary teleological existentialist. Interested in emotions, social psychology, macro-historical social change, suicide, and why/how patterned thinking, feeling, and doing clusters in some collectives and not others.

Sociocultural Evolution: Universal Human Concerns

Posted on May 13, 2019 by Seth Abrutyn

When I first began writing about institutional evolution (Abrutyn 2009), I was continually confronted with the same problem functionalists had – e.g., why does every society have a “polity” or a “kinship” system? That is, there is something seemingly biological … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution, Musings on Sociological Theory | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Does Sociology Have Laws? (Spoiler Alert, Yes it Does!)

Posted on April 5, 2019 by Seth Abrutyn

Yesterday, I was sitting in a faculty retreat and we were discussing whether we needed to restructure the department given the continuous growth of faculty and the increasing number and complexity of exigencies the Head must deal with; exigencies which … Continue reading →

Posted in Musings on Sociological Theory | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The Nuts and Bolts of Evolution, III: Sociology’s Greatest Sin, the Stage Model

Posted on March 18, 2019 by Seth Abrutyn

If you asked a biologist, “are there stages of hominid evolution?”, they’d look at you like you were crazy. Of course, biological evolution is, from a teleological standpoint, directionless. So, why has sociology been so preoccupied with classificatory stage models? Indeed, … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution | Tagged , | 2 Comments

The Nuts and Bolts of Evolution, II: The Limits of Darwinian Explanations

Posted on February 18, 2019 by Seth Abrutyn

Having discussed some of the basic aspects of Darwinian (biological) evolution, I want to talk about why Darwinian processes do not work in explaining sociocultural evolution; at least not the vast majority of evolution today. Undoubtedly, human societies and numerous propensities like a tendency towards … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution | Tagged , | 5 Comments

The Nuts and Bolts of Evolution, I: Darwinian Processes

Posted on February 13, 2019 by Seth Abrutyn

Some initial caveats: I am by no means an expert in biological evolution, nor would I claim to be (for an easy-to-approach expert work on the ABCs, see Mayr 2002). It is imperative that sociologists become familiar with the principles, … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution | Tagged | 3 Comments

Multi-Level Neo-Darwinism: The Good and Bad

Posted on January 30, 2019 by Seth Abrutyn

I realized as I wrote this entry that a follow up that should have preceded this is in order. The follow up, or probably two-part entry, would need to provide for the uninitiated, first, the basics of biological evolution and … Continue reading →

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Toward a Prolegomena of Evolutionary Sociology

Posted on January 18, 2019 by Seth Abrutyn

Since my second year in grad school, I have been enamored with evolution as an explanatory framework for some types of historical, social, and cultural change. I realize there is deserved and undeserved skepticism surrounding evolutionary theory and evolutionary sociology, … Continue reading →

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One Sociologist’s View

Posted on June 27, 2015 by Seth Abrutyn

Having guest blogged on an incredibly exciting blog filled with many colleagues Culture, Cognition, and Action, writing entries on the the sociology of emotions, why the sociology of suicide has to change, and how it should change, I’ve decided to … Continue reading →

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