The Evolution of Evolution
Social Darwinism and Eugenics, through the times.
How it all started
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, eminent as a collector and geologist, who proposed and provided scientific evidence that all species of life have evolved over time from common ancestors through the process he called natural selection. The fact that evolution occurs became accepted by the scientific community and the general public in his lifetime, while his theory of natural selection came to be widely seen as the primary explanation of the process of evolution in the 1930s, and now forms the basis of modern evolutionary theory. (wikipedia) Darwin however didn't invent the evolutionary world view as it existed before him, he simply brought something new to the old philosophy in the form of a plausible mechanism called "natural selection." In his Origin of Species, Darwin proposed natural selection as the mechanism by which all life could have descended from a common ancestor.
Before Darwin:
Scala Natura
Before Darwin, during the days of philosophical geniuses, people have realized that not all organisms are equal or on the same level. In other words it was apparent that a slug could have gone through the same evolutionary process as humans or goats. In order to be able to classify animals, a hierarchy was created that ranked every living organism bottom up with pond scum at the bottom and the Gods themselves at the top. This hierarchy from nothingness through imperfect creatures on Earth to heavenly perfection was invoked. (Social Darwinism, Eugenics, and other misapplic)
Scala Natura or the ladder of nature was an idea introduced by Aristotle, in which the natural world is interpreted in terms of the principle of plenitude, with formless matter right at the bottom, then rocks, plants, lower animals, higher animals, man, and finally spiritual and divine beings. This hierarchical view of the world persisted through the middle ages and up until the scientific revolution of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when it was replaced by a sort of monotheistic dualism, that is there is the material world or creation, and there is God in his heaven.
The ladder is based upon the pre-Darwinian Scala Natura, founded by Aristotle in a time when species were thought to be static essences created individually by God. The Scala Natura organised both living and inanimate objects on a ladder, with Humans, or sometimes supernatural beings at the top. After Linnaeus(Carl von Linne) founded taxonomy and classification, it was left to Charles Darwin in the 19th century to introduce the theory of evolution and hence make possible phylogenetic reconstruction; that is, the evolutionary relationships and history of the various groups of organisms through geological time (millions of years). That's where things really get interesting, because life as a dynamic process is much more fascinating than life as a static series of unchanging types.(
Laissez-faire Economics and Biology-
It is argued by some that Charles Darwin's ideas about natural selection were influenced by Adam Smiths writings on Economics due to some striking similarityies in their concepts and ideas.
Smith's central idea in his laissez-faire economics was that if you remove all regulation from an economy and leave everyone to maximise their own personal wealth, then the wider public interest will be served. In other words when an individual works for his own gain, said Smith, "he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention" This is interesting in that it suggests that rather than being forced to promote the public good from above, as in planned economies, an individuals search for personal gain will lead to public good.
How is this similar to biology... well when individuals try to maximise the number of genes they pass on to future generations this has lead to the creation of an array of biological diversity. Before Darwin's On the Origin of Species in 1859, Scientists were not slow in catching on to the idea of evolution, but it took them much longer to accept the mechanisms underlying natural selection. The classical explanations of group selection, for example, where an individual produces fewer young for the good of the species, were not abandoned by many biologists until the early 1960s. These mechanisms can be thought of as the biological equivalent of planned economies. Biologists are now used to thinking about individuals struggling for advantage.
The Darwinian worldview was critical, not only in influencing the development of Nazism and communism, but also in the rise of the ruthless capitalists that flourished in the late 1800s and early 1900s (Morris and Morris, 1996). A key aspect of this brand of capitalism was its extreme individualism which indicated that other persons count for little, and that it is both natural and proper to exploit "weaker" companies.
Darwin's theory of evolution:
The Premise
Darwin's Theory of Evolution is the theory that all life is related and descended from a common ancestor. In other words birds and bananas, fishes and flowers are all related in one way or another. Darwin's general theory presumes that complex creatures evolve from more simplistic ancestors naturally over time due to random genetic mutations - that occur within the genetic code of an organism - that are preserved because they facilitate survival(natural selection). These mutations are then passed on from generation to generation until the end result is a completely different and new organism.(Darwin's theory of evolution, a theory in crisis)
Natural Selection
Now there have been many discoveries and talk of evolutionary development before Darwin's theory arose like the descent of man from animal, however, what makes Darwin's theory more credible is the inclusion of the mechanism he calls 'natural selection.' Natural selection is basically the process by which the genetic mutations that aid survival of organisms are inherited by offspring. This goes on from generation to generation till those disadvantaged organism (those without this mutation) gradually die out leaving only the advantaged members of the society.
Darwinism
Darwin’s theories and writings, combined with Gregor Mendel’s genetics (the “modern synthesis”), form the basis of all modern biology.[133] However, Darwin’s fame and popularity led to his name being associated with ideas and movements which at times had only an indirect relation to his writings, and sometimes went directly against his express comments.(wikipedia)
Evolution of Darwins Theory:
Herbert Spencer
If Darwin was the father was Evolution, Herbert Spencer was his wife. Spencer was an English philosopher who developed the idea of evolution as the progressive development of the physical world, biological organisms, the human mind, and human culture and societies. Spencer was of the view that some people were naturally more superior to others and in order to attain the perfection of a particular species, the inferior ones would have to die off. This theory merged conveniently with aspects of nineteenth-century capitalism to justify economic policies sacrificing social welfare in favor of rampant capitalism and the rich getting ever richer. Darwin made Evolution with natural selection, Spencer completed it with the term ‘survival of the fittest’ to describe the outcome of competition between social groups and his application of Darwins theory of natural selection led to the birth of social Darwinism. He also argued that through competition social evolution would automatically produce prosperity and personal liberty unparalleled in human history.
Eugenics and Galton
Intelligence Quotient
William Stern theory claimed that core intelligence was innate. Many psychologists in America and England supported that conclusion.
Social Darwinism
Introduction
Social Darwinism was a term that arose in the late 19th Century to describe the idea that humans, like animals and plants, compete in a struggle for existence in which natural selection results in “survival of the fittest.” Social Darwinists base their beliefs on theories of evolution developed by British naturalist Charles Darwin.
Social Darwinism an in depth look
Social Darwinism is a belief that in society, the strongest and fittest organism should survive and thrive in society while the weaker and unfit will die out. This spin off Darwin’s theory of evolution basically came about because Darwin’s theory which originally had been intended to be applied only to natural selection through genetic variability was applied to selection between human groups differentiated by culture alone hence the name social Darwinism. Some social Darwinists argue that human competition and social ills like poverty should be left to work themselves out without government interference but instead governments could advocate a laissez-faire political and economic system that favored competition and self-interest in social and business affairs. Social Darwinists typically propose arguments that justify imbalances of power between individuals, races, and nations because they consider some people more fit to survive than others. The term social Darwinist is applied loosely to anyone who interprets human society primarily in terms of biology, struggle, competition, or natural law (a philosophy based on what are considered the permanent characteristics of human nature). Social Darwinism characterizes a variety of past and present social policies and theories, from attempts to reduce the power of government to theories exploring the biological causes of human behavior. Many people believe that the concept of social Darwinism explains the philosophical rationalization behind racism, imperialism, and capitalism. The term has negative implications for most people because they consider it a rejection of compassion and social responsibility.
Difference between Darwin and Spencers ideals
Social Darwinism is essentially an evolved form of Darwinism that instead of dealing with just nature and plants like Darwin did in his Origin of Species, goes further to discuss evolution in social institutions. In Social Darwinism, the individual rather than the collective is the unit of analysis that evolves through natural selection, and that has an effect on social as well as biological phenomena. Spencer’s work is also based more on Lamarckian theory than Darwin. Darwin's theory of evolution focuses on populations, while Spencer's focuses with the way an individual's motives influence humanity. Darwin's theory is probabilistic in that it is based on changes that occur in the environment that will eventually cause changes in individuals in a collective sense, with no single, specific goal in mind. Spencer's on the other hand is more: A) Deterministic in that the evolution of human society is the only logical consequence of its previous stage. B) Fatalistic – in that it cannot be influenced by human actions. C) Universalistic – in that social evolution follows a single path, it cannot skip or change any stages. D) Teleological (there is a final, perfect society that will be eventually reached). Darwin's theory did not lead to progress, except in the respect that the new organism/evolved species become better suited/adapted to survive in their changing environment. Spencer's theory on the other hand leads to social progress where the new, evolved society is always better than the past. (wikipedia social darwinism)
Social Darwinism in the 20th century
Although social Darwinism was highly influential at the beginning of the 20th century, it quickly lost support after the events of World War I as it was blamed for contributing to German militarism and the rise of Nazism. Also, advances in anthropology discredited the idea of social Darwinism during this same time period as it was determined that human culture set people apart from animals. This essentially served to undermine social Darwinism as it moved emphasis away from the biological aspect and into cultural. Interest in social theories however resurfaced with the discovery of the structure of the genetic code which was considered the building block of all life. This led to studies during the 1960’s as to the influence of DNA on human behavior, aggression, territoriality, mate selection, and other behavior common to people and animals. In the early 1970s the social Darwinist argument that intelligence is mostly determined by biology rather than by environmental influences was revived. Also during this period, it was discovered in separate studies that some groups exhibited self-sacrificing behavior in order to serve the genetic well-being of the group as a whole. This led to the realization that genetics exerted a greater influence on human behavior than scientists had previously believed and led to a new science called sociobiology which was the study of human behavior taking biology and culture into account. Critics argue that sociobiology is simply another version of social Darwinism that essentially downplays the role of culture in human societies and justifies poverty and warfare in the name of natural selection. Such criticism has led to a decline in the influence of sociobiology and other forms of social Darwinism. (social Darwinism msn Encarta)
Eugenics
Eugenics in different locations
US
o Introduction
o Implementation
o flaws
UK
o Introduction
o Implementation
o flaws
Canada
o Introduction
o Implementation
o flaws
Japan
o Introduction
o Implementation
o flaws
Australia
o Introduction
o Implementation
o flaws
Sweden
o Introduction
o Implementation
o flaws
Evolution of Darwin's theory through the years and its misapplications: Before we look at the evolution of Darwin's theory, we must first look at a time line of events for the development of evolution theory.
Time line
* 322 BCE Aristotle introduces the concept of the Great Chain of Being. * 1640 Descartes, 1663 Spinoza, and 1680 Leibniz rely on this concept of progressive perfection as sufficient proof of the existence of God. * 1776 Adam Smith publishes On the Wealth of Nations * 1857 Herbert Spencer begins publishing sociologic / economic works on Progress and Social Evolution. He was to be greatly influenced by his later reading of Darwin. * 1859 Darwin publishes first edition of On the Origin of Species * 1860 Karl Marx, in a letter to Frederich Engels, cites Darwin's tome as "the book which contains the basis in natural history for our views." Marx was later to attempt to dedicate Das Kapital to Darwin, but the latter declined the honor. * 1872 Walter Bagehot publishes Physics and Politics, perhaps the first clear statement that nations "evolved" from intergroup struggles. * 1869 Sir Francis Galton begins (Hereditary Genius) a series of works laying the foundations for the Eugenics movement. * 1909 Alfred Binet lays the foundations for standardized intelligence testing. * 1911 Friedrich von Bernhardi fashioned an evolutionary argument for Germany and the Next War. This interpretation was sufficient to drive not one but two great wars. * 1917 The great Army Alpha and Beta intelligence tests are administered to a wide group of recruits. The data so collected will be misanalized for years. * 1924 Immigration Restriction Act. fixed new immigrants at quotas of 2% of those nations' representation in the 1890 census. Why 1890? Southern and Eastern Europeans didn't begin to emigrate to this country until after that date. * 1927 Carrie Buck is sterilized by the state of Virginia, on account of being feebleminded. * 1928 Carrie's sister Doris is also sterilized. * 1930s Eugenics movement largely ran out of steam with the Great Depression. * 1972 Virginia stops involuntary sterilization of the feebleminded and antisocial. * 1979 Arthur Jensen's Bias in Mental Testing attempts to make the case for racial differences in intelligence quotient. * 1994 Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray publish The Bell Curve
Well known evolutionarists and their contributions:
· William Paley
· Charles Darwin
· Gregor Mendel (1823-1884) On Mendel Discovered the theory of heredity
* Charles Lyell (1797-1875)-- Uniformitarianism rather than Catastrophism: geological formations required many millennia to develop.
Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913)--independently proposed evolutionary mechanism.
* Thomas Huxley (1825-1895)-- major publicizer of evolution, epiphenomenologist
Early Animal Psychology
* George Romanes (1848-1894)) anecdotal stories of animal intelligence, a comparative psychology Anecdotal methods. * C. Lloyd Morgan (1852-1936) Morgan's canon, limit interpretations of behavior to as simple mental processes as is compatible with the data. * Jacques Loeb (1859-1924) tropisms--movements have elementary physico-chemical explanations. * Willard Small (1870-1943) maze learning of laboratory rat. * Ivan Sechenov (1829-1905) Thoughts are reflexes of the brain. Inhibitory and excitatory reflexive action.
· Francis Galton (1822-1911) Promulgated Darwin's individual differences idea.
· Karl Pearson (1857-1936) invented the correlation coefficient. Many psychologists use this measure as a component in their research and theory.
Source
http://www.ouuf.org/Sermons/SocialDarwinism.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/C004367/eh4.shtml
http://www.progressivehumanism.com/undevltn.html
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/life/evolution/mg15420776.100
http://www.cas.buffalo.edu/classes/psy/segal/4212001/evolution.htm
