Social Darwinism

Exploration presented different kinds of plants, animals, and diverse beliefs for people, which showed the different ways science could affect everyone, while not even knowing it. “The first settlers in North America from England were hard-pressed to survive, but they soon continued the European tradition of scientific inquiry. Individuals who used native talent to improve living and working conditions performed much of the scientific work done in the 19th century. Those inventors improved existing technology, while only sometimes using scientific methods to test their ideas. The success and importance of inventions helped raise the prestige of science in the United States, however, and created the common belief that knowledge, hard work, and science would result in progress” [American philosophy.

This dissemination of ideas, inexpensively, took away the Church’s (and governments’) monopoly on thought. With this new ability, the pioneers of the scientific revolution courageously spoke out to spread their theories on scientific frontiers, frequently in opposition to the Church’s teachings on such matters. These pioneers paved the way for the philosophes of the Enlightenment to take things a step further, and question the Church’s teachings on matters of metaphysics, morality, and social ethics to name a few. This step away from supernatural and Church condoned explanations taken by those in the scientific revolution, carved a path for the philosophes to follow in their footsteps and question the Church’s teachings on those subjects not proven by empiricism. Nicolaus Copernicus is frequently credited with being the father of the scientific revolution, presenting an excellent starting point for the scientific pioneers.

Philosophes questioned everything and wanted direct answers, which is why a lot of them were great thinkers and scientists. Greatly influenced by the discoveries and thinking of the Scientific Revolution, they were always looking for laws or principles to prove their findings that supported intellectual freedom. The Philosphe movement had three central ideas: progress, deism, and tolerance. The Philosophes strongly encouraged progress so they would have knowledge of the natural world and they would be able to learn more through technology. Wanting people to overcome their fears of superstitions and things their religions had taught them, they encouraged people to believe what they knew and what they could prove.

Natural selection is simple yet complex process that allows species adapt to its environment. Natural selection guides evolution by “sifting out” favorable traits that increase survival for the species. Natural selection is driven by reproductive success. If a species can reproduce and its offspring survive than any traits in its genotype that assisted in its survival will be passed on from generation to generation and ensure that the species will live on. Around the time the Theory of Evolution was suggested, society was very religious and very pressed on the Theory of Creation, so the publication of Darwin’s The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection caused a lot of controversy.

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, a new way of thinking resulted from the Scientific Revolution. It was an important time in which many people turned away from the church and looked towards logic and reason for the answers to questions about life, death, and the universe. The Scientific Revolution was the key to new discoveries and it allowed many scientists such as Charles Robert Darwin to continue thinking and striving for the truth as other scientists, such as Galileo and Newton, had done before him. It was clear that logic and reasoning was becoming more popular than faith. The Scientific Revolution was well underway before Darwin was even born, but it was his studies which allowed us to conclude that "the world is governed entirely by natural forces, including the struggle for existence in which the fittest members of a varying population survive, reproduce, and pass on their traits to the next generation.

When he proposed the theory of evolution it caused society to become more open-minded in regards to their views about the world, as people started to rely more on science (Adler et al 2012). Due to the contributions from Comte and Darwin, the positive school of thought was able to gain traction and in turn was able to help develop the field of criminology. After Comte and Darwin developed their theories about the world, they were followed by several criminologists who also believed that science could answer many of the problems that were present in society, particularly in the field of criminology. One of these men was Cesare Lombroso, who was the first to actually focus on criminology as a science (Adler et al 2012). Lombroso believed criminals could be identified because of physical differences between them and non-criminal members of society (Adler et al 2012).

Evolution, it seems to me, touches more closely on our fears about death and our place in the grand scheme of things than it does on our faith. The reason evolution comes into such great conflict with religion is because questions such as, "Where will we go after our lives here end?" are so important to us. Consequently, the fear surrounding the theory of evolution belongs not only to the religious and the fanatical, but also to anyone who has ever asked him or herself such questions. America was founded on the concepts of idealism and opportunism; we all are brought up to take advantage of our opportunities and succeed to the best of our abilities.

Although science did wonders in the nineteenth century, many people feared science and its effects because of the uncertainty results of science. Our thrist for science can be traced back through many decades. However, the nineteenth century society felt that science was a great investment towards a better life. This investment in science gave the nineteenth century society the discovery of light waves and radio waves, the electric motors, the first photograph and telephone, and the first publication of the periodic table. Science also caused an uproar in society when Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species, which became the scientific basis for the study of the evolution of humans.

Charles Darwin, the “Father of Evolution,” inadvertently laid the foundations not only for life and science as it is known today but also for the concept of human nature and questions of its potential framework. After Darwin’s discoveries, many other researchers lay claim to the role of genes and heritability in nature. Some researchers assert this role of genetics in human nature, labeling it as a necessity in the development of a complete understanding, whereas other researchers deny genetics’ role in human nature entirely, claiming it to be a hindrance for scientific and social advancements. However, the novel Life of Pi by Yann Martel and the play Copenhagen by Michael Frayn show that human nature may be based not only on genetics but also on external factors. But what are the true differences, if any, between the impact of genetics and the impact of culture on the human being?

The naturalists, although rooted in religious beliefs and explanations of the world, were the pioneers of evolutionary science because they began to look for explanations that were not found in religious texts. They explored the natural world. In today’s world, physical anthropologists focus on human variation in order to determine what factors into the physical and genetic variation of humans. Because the human anatomy is a large part of our biological makeup, some physical anthropologists specialize in just studying the human anatomy and physical anthropology is a good basis for other career choices s... ... middle of paper ... ...generations. If it is a beneficial mutation, then it will likely not only pass on through reproduction, but those offspring will have better odds of reproducing in order to “spread” that trait onto future offspring.