By Their Fruits Ye Shall Not Know Them: Forgery, Collective Intentionality and Aesthetics

Abstract

This article will argue the proximate and distal causes for forgery as explained respectively by cultural and evolutionary factors. Seeing forgery, as Dutton does, like a fake high-skill display -something of great value to our species- allows the forger to shape what Searle would call ‘collective intentionality’ through manipulation of ‘status functions’ in order to grant the forger a status advantage that has not been earned. Combining this with Wilson’s view of religion’s group level selection function will also help to see how New Testament forgery is approachable through both a natural and cultural perspective. Forgery, like any deception, violates the human tendency toward egalitarian interaction.