Social Darwinism

From Freepedia

Social Darwinism is a social theory which holds that Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection is not only a model for the development of biological traits in a population, but can also be applied to human social institutions. Social Darwinisim was popular in the late nineteenth century to the end of World War II, although some have claimed that contemporary sociobiology could be classified as a form of Social Darwinism. Proponents of Social Darwinism often used the theory to justify laissez-faire capitalism and social inequality. Others used it to justify racism and imperialism. At its most extreme, some Social Darwinism appears to anticipate eugenics and the race doctrines of the Nazis.

While Social Darwinism applies the concept of evolution and natural selection to human cultural systems, none of the political and quasi-theological ideologies related to it are a part of Darwin's biological theory of evolution. Equally, Social Darwinism itself does not necessarily engender a political position: some Social Darwinists argue for the inevitability of progress, while others emphasize the potential for the degeneration of humanity. Some even attempted to enroll Social Darwinism in reformist politics.

It should be noted that 'Social Darwinism' is a term used by academics to describe a style or trend in social theory, rather than a coherent school of thought with, for instance, a professional association or an explicit manifesto. The application of the term to 19th and 20th century modes of thought generally did not occur until after the publication of American historian Richard Hofstadter's Social Darwinism in American Thought in 1944, which codified the concept in the sense it is generally used today. Thus the term is an anachronism, although it is still widely used by historians. More importantly, Social Darwinism, in its contemporary forms, remains a very important social theory in the United States, and in some conservative political movements elsewhere.

History

Social Darwinism and other theories of social change

Theories of social evolution and cultural evolution are common in European thought. The Enlightenment thinkers who preceded Darwin often speculated that societies progressed through stages of increasing development. Earlier thinkers also emphasized conflict as an inherent feature of social life. Thomas Hobbes's 17th century portrayal of the state of nature seems analogous to the competition for natural resources described by Darwin. However, Darwin's discussion of evolution was unique in several ways from these previous works. Darwin argued that humans were shaped by biological laws (emphasizing the natural over the supernatural in human development) in the same way as other animals, particularly by the pressure put on individuals by population growth. Unlike Hobbes he believed that this pressure allowed individuals with certain physical and mental traits to succeed more frequently than others, and that these traits accumulated in the population over time to allow the emergence of a new species. Social Darwinism is distinct from these other theories of social change because of the way it draws Darwin's distinctive ideas from the field of biology into social studies.

Darwin and Social Darwinism

Despite the fact that Social Darwinism bears Darwin's name and Darwin's works were widely read by Social Darwinists, the theory draws on the work of many authors, including Herbert Spencer and Thomas Malthus. Thus Social Darwinism sometimes differs with Darwin's thought, and with modern theories of evolution that have developed in the century and a half since Darwin first wrote.

It seems clear that Darwin felt that 'social instincts' such as 'sympathy' and 'moral sentiments' evolved through natural selection, and that these resulted in the strengthening of societies in which they occurred, so much so that "at some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilised races of man will almost certainly exterminate, and replace, the savage races throughout the world." (Descent of Man, ch. 6). Thus Darwin did believe that social phenomena were shaped by natural selection, although exactly how evolutionary pressure on individuals led to collective benefits is something that Darwin never clearly explicated. At the same time, Darwin did not hold the political views that many of those inspired by him would eventually affect.

Another major influence on Social Darwinism was the work of Herbert Spencer. Herbert Spencer's ideas, like that of evolutionary 'progressivism' stemmed from his reading of Thomas Malthus, and his later theories were influenced by those of Darwin. However Spencer's major work in the field of social darwinism, "Progress: Its Law and Cause" was released two years before the publication Darwin's "Origin", and his second, "First Principles", was printed in 1860. In regards to social institutions, however, there is a good case that Spencer's writings might be classified as 'Social Darwinism'. He argues that the individual (rather than the collectivity) is the unit of analysis that evolves, that evolution takes place through natural selection, and that it affects social as well as biological phenomenon.

In many ways Spencer's theory of 'cosmic evolution' has much more in common with the works of Lamark and August Comte than Charles Darwin. Darwin's theory is concerned with population, while Spencer's deals with the way an individual's motives influence humanity. Darwin's theory is probabilistic, i.e. based on changes in the environment that sooner or later influence the change of individuals, but do not have any single, specific goal. Spencer's is deterministic (the evolution of human society is the only logical consequence of its previous stage), fatalistic (it cannot be influenced by human actions), single path (it travels a single path, cannot skip any stages or change them) and progressively finalistic (there is a final, perfect society that will be eventually reached). Darwin's theory does not equal progress, except in the sense that the new, evolved species will be better suited to their changing environment. Spencer's theory introduces the concept of social progress - the new, evolved society is always better than the past.

Spencer's work also served to renew interest in the work of Malthus. While Malthus's work does not itself qualify as Social Darwinism, his 1798 work An Essay on the Principle of Population, was incredibly popular and widely read by Social Darwinists. In that book, for example, the author argued that as an increasing population would normally outgrow its food supply, this would result in the starvation of the weakest and a Malthusian catastrophe. According to Michael Ruse, Darwin read Malthus' famous Essay on a Principle of Population in 1838, four years after Malthus' death.

Social Darwinists

The term "Social Darwinism" is most closely associated with the writings of Herbert Spencer (who coined the phrase "survival of the fittest") and William Graham Sumner. Regardless of how scholars of Spencer interpret his relation to Darwin, Spencer proved to be an incredibly popular figure in the 1870s, particularly in the United States. Authors such as Edward Youmans, William Graham Sumner, John Fiske, John W. Burgess, and other thinkers of the gilded age all developed theories of Social Darwinism as a result of their exposure to Spencer (as well as Darwin).

Social Darwinism enjoyed widespread popularity in some European circles, particularly among ruling elites during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During this period the global recession of the 1870s encouraged a view of the world which saw societies or nations in competition with one another for survival in a hostile world. This attitude encouraged increasing militarization and the division of the world into colonial spheres of influence. The interpretation of Social Darwinism then emphasized competition between species and races rather than cooperation. In the time since then, evolutionary theory has de-emphasized inter-species competition as well as the importance of violent confrontation in general. Advances in both the social and natural sciences, therefore, have discredited many of the assumptions on which Social Darwinist theories were built.

Criticism

Proponents of Social Darwinism often use the theory to justify laissez-faire capitalism and social inequality. Others use it to justify racism and imperialism. At its most extreme, some pre-twentieth century Social Darwinists appear to anticipate eugenics and the race doctrines of the Nazis.

In America particularly, the theory became intertwined with Calvinist (Puritan) theological traditions. Thus, application of Social Darwinist principles to explain and support social inequality and inequity, racism (especially Jim Crow laws), laissez-faire economics, and libertarian political theories, were interpreted as a reflections of God's will. Whether someone succeeded or failed (i.e., survived as one of the fittest) in any given endeavour (stock market investments; African-American able to vote in the South; etc.) was supposedly pre-ordained by God.

Because Social Darwinism came to be associated in the public mind with racism, imperialism, eugenics, and pseudoscience, such criticisms are sometimes applied (and misapplied) to any other political or scientific theory that resembles social Darwinism. Such criticisms are often levelled, for example, at evolutionary psychology.

Similarly, capitalist economics, especially laissez-faire economics, is sometimes equated with Social Darwinism because it is thought by some to involve a "sink or swim" attitude toward economic activity. However, the fact that some Social Darwinists are advocates of capitalism and laissez-faire does not mean that all capitalists are Social Darwinists.

Social Darwinist theory itself does not necessarily engender a political position: some Social Darwinists argue for the inevitability of progress, while others emphasise the potential for the degeneration of humanity, and some even attempt to enroll Social Darwinism in a reformist politics. Rather, Social Darwinism is an eclectic set of closely interrelated social theories -- much in the way that Existentialism is not one philosophy but a set of closely interrelated philosophical principles.

External links

• Modern History Sourcebook: Herbert Spencer: Social Darwinism, 1857
• Andrew Carnegie's "Gospel of Wealth" Describes social darwinism, and effectiveness of how a capitalists' wealth is spent
• Social Darwinism on ThinkQuest
• In the name of Darwin - criticism of social darwinism

References

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See also

• Altruism
• Evolution of societies
• social ecology
• Social evolutionism
• Social implications of the theory of evolution
• Sociobiology
• The Abraxas Foundation

• The Evolution of Cooperation by Robert Axelrod
• Contrast with Mutual Aid: A Factor in Evolution by Peter Kropotkin