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 a well known English naturalist, collector and geologist who is responsible for proposing - as well as - providing scientific evidence that all species of life evolve over time from common ancestors through a process called natural selection. This process known as evolution became accepted by the scientific community and the general public in Darwin's lifetime, and his theory of natural selection became the primary explanation for the process of evolution.(wikipedia) Darwin however cannot be given credit for the idea of evolution as it had existed before him, he simply engineered a plausible mechanism called "natural selection" that made the theory more believable.
Before Darwin:
Scala Natura
Before Darwin's time, in the times of great philosophical geniuses like Aristotle and Plato, there was a general idea that not all organisms were equal or on the same level. People doubted that something so simple as a slug could have gone through the same evolutionary process as complex human beings or even goats. This led to a desire to classify animals, leading to the creation of a hierarchy that ranked every living organism from the bottom up. This hierarchy from nothingness through imperfect creatures on Earth to heavenly perfection was invoked. (Social Darwinism, Eugenics, and other misapplic)
This led to the creation of Scala Natura or the 'ladder of nature,' which was an idea introduced by Aristotle, in which the natural world was interpreted in terms of the principle of plenitude, with formless matter at the bottom, followed by rocks, plants, lower animals, higher animals, man, and finally spiritual and divine beings. This hierarchical view of the world continued through the middle ages 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.
Laissez-faire Economics and Biology
Charles Darwin's ideas about natural selection can be found elsewhere in economic writings. IT is believed that Darwin's theory was influenced by Adam Smiths writings on Economics due to the presence of some similarities in their concepts and ideas. Smith's central idea in his laissez-faire economics system is that an economy free of all regulation where everyone is left to maximize their own personal wealth, will serve the interest of the wider public. Smith explains it by explaining how when an individual works for his own gain, "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 because it suggests that rather than authorities imposing the promotion of public good on societies like in planned economies, an individuals search for personal gain will lead to public good.
How does this link to Darwin's theory of evolution. It is similar in the way individuals try to maximize the number of genes they pass on to future generations as this has lead to the creation of an array of biological diversity. Before Darwin's 'On the Origin of Species' in 1859, Scientists were reluctant to accept the mechanisms underlying natural selection and The classical explanations of group selection, were not abandoned by many biologists until the early 1960s - and can be thought of as the biological equivalent of planned economies. This form of thought has changed and biologists are now used to thinking about individuals struggling for advantage.
The Darwinian world view was critical, not only to the rise of socialism but also in the rise of the ruthless capitalism that flourished in the late 1800s and early 1900s which believed in extreme individualism which indicated that other persons counted for little, and that it was both natural and proper to exploit "weaker" companies.
Darwin's theory of evolution:
The Premise
Darwin's Theory of Evolution is the idea that all life is related and descended from a common ancestor. In other words ants, apples, cats and cucumbers are all related in one way or another. Darwin's general theory presumes that complex creatures evolve from more simplistic ones naturally over a long period of time due to random genetic mutations that occur within the genetic code of an organism. These changes are preserved because they facilitate survival(natural selection)and 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 came out like the evolution of man from ape, however, what makes Darwin's theory more credible is his inclusion of the mechanism called 'natural selection.' Natural selection is basically the process by which the genetic mutations that aid survival of organisms are inherited by their offspring. This goes on from generation to generation untill 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.
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
Introduction
Eugenics is the study of hereditary improvement through controlled breeding of the human race. Coined by Charles Darwin's cousin Francis Galton, the word eugenics literally means "well born" in Greek.
Galton and Eugenics
Galton's work on eugenics began slightly after the release of Origin. He was most intrigued by the first chapter on the breeding of domestic animals. He became obsessed with how these implications might effect the human race. He spent most of his time researching human traits and abilities and whether or not they were hereditary. These studies and findings were detailed in his 1869 book Hereditary Genius.
In Darwin's The Descent of Man, he acknowledged the studies formulated by Galton proved that many traits were hereditary and the probability that smarts and abilities were as well. However Darwin did not believe in some of the social changes supported by his cousin. Galton believed in implementing eugenics as a policy within the British society. He wanted to offer economic incentive to those of high rank who marry early and bare children.
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
