Darwin's General Summary and Conclusions of the Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex In the "General Summary and Conclusions" of The Descent of Man, and
Selection in Relation to Sex, Charles Darwin argues that man is not
the work of a separate act of creation. Rather, he believes that
humans evolved from a lower being to what we are today. Darwin looks
at the "whole organic world" [i] when finding evidence to support his
argument, using the evolution of plants and animals to illustrate his
points. Darwin claims that natural selection and sexual selection are
two modes of evolution and explains both in detail. However, Darwin
does not just cover science; he also looks at how social behavior
affects evolution and sexual selection. In this way, non-epistemic
values have a great influence on Darwin's theories.
Darwin's main argument is that "man is descended from some less highly
organized form"[ii]. As evidence for his claim, Darwin looks at the
similarity between the features of humans and other animals during
embryonic development. He finds that there are "innumerable points of
structure and constitution" [iii] that are similar. Anyone who
disagrees with him would be forced to conclude, "man is the
co-descendent with other mammals of a common progenitor"[iv].
He also explains the differences between natural selection and sexual
selection, as well as how sexual selection is important to evolution.
First, natural selection depends on how well an organism can adapt to
its environment. If it doesn't have the means to survive in its
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... values, especially when dealing with the human social
condition and the differences in superiority between civilizations. It
is also interesting to see how others have interpreted Darwin's
theories, and created their own theories based on Darwinism. Overall,
Darwin's ideas, while originally scientific, have been impacted by
social factors and in turn have influenced social theories.
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[i] Page 386
[ii] Page 385
[iii] Page 385
[iv] Page 386
[v] Page 403
[vi] Page 390
[vii] Page 393
[viii] Page 394
[ix] Page 395
[x] Vol. I, Page 169
Works Cited
Darwin, Charles. “From The Descent of Man.” Change and Tradition: Cultural and
Historical Perspectives. Dubuque, Iowa; Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company,
1998.
Darwin was a product of his time and with his time came the ideas of sexism and racism which were clearly integrated into his theories. There are some facets of Darwin’s theory about the differences in men and women which can be explained by biology but overall, it is clear that his theory is based on the sexist ideas prevalent in the 1800s. Women are expected to be caring, selfless, maternal, and submissive while men are expected to be dominant, aggressive, successful and confident. Most of Darwin’s theory relating to the differences in men and women can be explained by social expectations which have shaped what is acceptable in society.
Zhao, Buyun. "Charles Darwin & Evolution." Charles Darwin & Evolution. Christ's College, 2009. Web. 04 May 2014.
...eir male counterparts. Darwin’s theory helps us understand the manner in which women were perceived and what sort of change Bellamy proposes to change this perception. It helps us understand the benefits and drawbacks that are likely to ensue as a result of Bellamy’s perception on who women are.
Darwin: A Norton Critical Edition, Second Edition ; ed. by Philip Appleman; copyright 1979, 1970 by W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
In Mivart’s Genesis of Species, the author highlights the inconsistencies of Darwin’s natural selection theory. He supports his assertion by emphasizing how species placed in similar environments acquire different traits, questioning the long-term advantages of these evolved traits, and noting the logical inconsistencies of how traits can span in all directions.
Darwin and Evolution are inextricably linked in the minds of most people who have had the opportunity to study them in basic biology. However, Darwin's theories of selection and survival of the fittest have been applied to moral, economic, political, and other cultural aspects of society. Dennett briefly touched on some of the political and social ramifications of Darwin's theories in the final chapter of Darwin's Dangerous Idea. Other philosophers and thinkers have also adapted Darwin's evolutionary ideas, in order to apply them in a societal or cultural context. One great example of this adaptation of the biological concept of evolution, is the appearance of Social Darwinism during the 19th century.
Anyone with even a moderate background in science has heard of Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution. Since the publishing of his book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859, Darwin’s ideas have been debated by everyone from scientists to theologians to ordinary lay-people. Today, though there is still severe opposition, evolution is regarded as fact by most of the scientific community and Darwin’s book remains one of the most influential ever written.
Darwin's theory of sexual selection is an intriguing one because it offers an explanation of human striving and cultural value systems. The theory is that humans who are more sexually desirable will have more offspring and thus their traits will be passed on to future generations to a greater extent than those of less sexually desirable humans. As opposed to Darwin's other theory, natural selection, those who are the best adapted to their environment will be more likely to pass on their genes, or, "survival of the fittest", you might call sexual selection "survival of the sexiest." The theory is intended to in part explain why, when humans diverged from other primates, the human brain tripled in size in just two million years. At first glance, this theory also seems to explain much of the motivation behind human culture and achievement. Upon closer inspection, there are some fairly conspicuous problems with it, especially when it is extended to describe not only human evolution in the distant past but it the present, but it may still be the most plausible explanation available to explain why humans mental capacities have expanded so far beyond those of our primate relatives.
In 1859, a biologist named Charles Darwin postulated a scientific theory, which stated that all living organisms evolved through a process of natural selection. According to Stephen Hawking, Charles Darwin claimed that the offspring of a particular species gradually evolved themselves genetically to resist the changes in the environment (573). The theory contended that the organisms could adapt to the changes in the environment through the survival of the fittest. Though this theory is regarded as a breakthrough in the field of biological evolution, it is interesting to explore how this seemingly scientific theory has been suitably modified, and intellectually applied to both negative and positive aspects of life.
In order to understand the present lifestyles relating to different approaches and tactics applied by humans in mate choice preferences, there is the need to refer to Darwin (1859, 1871) evolutionary perspectives. Darwin (1871) sexual selection is the driving force for males and females reproductive quest for their genes survival. These driving forces have been classified into two categories as intra-sexual and intersexual mate selection.Intersexual selection is male sexual selection process whereby males compete with other males and the females choose the strongest as their ideal partner. Intra-sexual selection occurs when the male species fight among themselves and the strongest gain access to females for
One Long Argument: Charles Darwin and the Genesis or Modern Evolutionary Thought. Ernst Mayr. Harvard University Press, 1993.
This chapter covers the variations of selection. Selection is a process, a description of how genes that produce better adaptations become more frequent over time. Species don’t try to adapt to their environment. Adaptation to the environment is inevitable if a species has the right kind of genetic variation. (pg. 117) The thought that “everything happens by chance” is essentially wrong. Evolution by selection is a combination of randomness and lawfulness. First a “random” process is the occurrence of mutations that generate an array of genetic variants, both good and bad; and then a “lawful” process (natural selection) that creates these variations. (pg.118) DNA is random, and this shows in humans and animals. For example, a humans parents
“Vestigial Organ” is a term used to describe organs or functions that due to the course of evolution no longer have a use. The idea of useless organs had been around long before Charles Darwin, but his idea for why they were there was the one that stuck. In his book “The Descent of Man” Darwin named a few organs that were considered absolutely useless or had very little service such as wisdom teeth, the appendix, the spleen, and the hind leg bones in whales. While functions of some of these parts such as the appendix and spleen have been discovered, Evolutionists still believe that vestigial are great evidence for the evolution. In complete contrast, Creationists know that they are evidence for a Creator. They believe that the organs are not vestigial, and indeed have a use.
Charles Darwin has had the greatest influence on the world by proving the evolution of living things. Charles Darwin had first noticed the similarities of plants and animals when he took a five-year cruise on the H.M.S. Beagle, which was available to him through a friend from school. During the cruise Charles Darwin started becoming interested with the similarities between the plants and animals that were similar on different islands with similar climates, so he decided to study them more closely.
One of the aspects that causes Darwin’s essay to differ from Gould’s is the targeted audience. Writing to a particular audience certainly affects the tone used in the essay. In this case, even though Darwin and Gould both claim the validity of evolution, they aim at different readers. As illustrated in “Natural Selection,” Darwin, focusing on the doubtful audience, maintains a neutral tone, and ...