DGfS AG 2

Human societies are remarkably diverse but this diversity is not limitless. Human cultural and linguistic variation is patterned and the spectrum of variation is not as wide as the “ethnographic hyperspace” we could think of. There are phenomena regularly found in all human cultures. Among the better known examples out of hundreds of universals are ethnocentrism, incest avoidance and social reciprocity. Universals are ubiquitous on the level of cultures, not individuals. Universals can be demonstrated empirically by cross-cultural comparison and historical diachronic comparison. This could be supplemented by cross-species comparisons. The argument is that universals are related to human nature but are neither isomorphic with (a) human nature, (b) species traits, (c) psychic unity nor with (d) anthropological constants as conceived in philosophy. As regards causes, universals are partially based (1) directly in human biology or reflect our evolved nature indirectly. Thus, specific aspects of human nature can be carefully inferred from specific universals. Beyond that there are additional factors all too often overlooked. Some universals are due to (2) global cultural transfer resp. diffusion, (3) systemic effects of patterned social relations, or (4) emergent interaction effects in “ultrasocial” systems. Others are related (5) to the simple fact of living in a material world. Thus, lists of traits found ubiquitously throughout human cultures cannot, pace e.g. Steven Pinker, simply be equated with human genes or human nature. In sum the paper tries to show that a precise concept and empirical knowledge about human universals is needed for an understanding of language universals. Beyond anthropological questions and linguistic issues, cultural universals are currently relevant within a world characterized by a globalized obsession with culture as difference.