Workshop | Scientific Progress via Model Transfer: The Case of Cultural Evolution

Over the last decades “Cultural Evolution Theory” has matured into a thriving research programme, offering mathematically explicit explanations of phenomena as diverse as language change, technology adoption, social norms and economic development. Much of this success rests on the transfer of formal models—from population genetics, evolutionary game theory, Bayesian learning, phylogenetics, and network science—into the cultural domain. In relation to that, philosophers of science have shown a growing interest in the phenomenon of model transfer, that is, the transfer of models or modeling techniques across different scientific domains. Central questions concern what exactly travels when models cross disciplinary boundaries — whether formal structures, model templates, or entire conceptual frameworks — and under what methodological conditions such transfers produce genuine knowledge rather than superficial analogy. 

As model transfer becomes increasingly recognized as a defining feature of contemporary science, it is vital to examine its role in driving scientific progress. At first glance, model transfer appears to be conducive to progress by enhancing explanatory depth, predictive accuracy, theoretical unification, and problem-solving capacity. Yet, the question of how and to what extent cultural evolutionary theory as a case of model transfer contributes to progress in science remains largely unexplored.

By bringing together scholars from cultural evolutionary research and from philosophy of science, the workshop aims to open a timely and much-needed conversation on the relations between model transfer and scientific progress by taking cultural evolution as a prime case study.