Social Darwinism is a late nineteenth century social philosophy which unites an interest in social problems, for example, inequality or social inequality, with an interpretation of Charles Darwin's work on the origin of species. The concept of Social Darwinism was invented by Richard Hofstadter. Social Darwinism was the main basis for Hitler's notion of the superiority of the Aryan race. Social Darwinists argue that the central Darwinian principle of evolution, development and progress, is the survival of the fittest and extinction of the weakest. This perspective of Social Darwinism suggests that supporting those who fall behind interferes with the principles of evolution and obstructs social progress.
Social Darwinism's “struggle for existence” and “survival of the fittest,” was the leading strain in American conservative thought for more than a generation. It was not until the days of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal that the liberal or progressive side in American politics was also the side that was identified with social and economic innovation and experiment.
Sociologists believe that social problems like inequality must be understood within a social and cultural context, rather than a context of biological competition. Herbert Spencer was thinking about ideas of evolution and progress before Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species. His ideas received a major boost from Darwin's theories and the general application of ideas such as "adaptation" and "survival of the fittest" to social thought is known as Social Darwinism.
It would be possible to argue that human evolution showed the benefits of cooperation and community. Spencer, and Social Darwinists after him took another view. He believed that society was evolving toward increasing freedom for individuals and therefore held that government intervention, ought to be minimal in social and political life.
Social Darwinism: The Theory of Evolution Applied to Human Society - William Graham Sumner (1840-1910). Sumner was a Yale-based sociologist and political economist who espoused an extreme laissez faire position, arguing that the government had absolutely no role in the economy's functions.
In 1907, Sumner published his most influential book, Folkways, in which he argued that social customs and traditions were the most powerful influences on human behavior.
Social Darwinism was the application of Charles Darwin`s scientific theories of evolution and natural selection to contemporary social development. In nature, Replica Watches only the fittest survived, just as in the marketplace.
Creating
the "Unfit": Social Darwinism or Social Triage?
Karen Glumm, Meredith College. Jennifer D. Johnson, Research Triangle Institute.
Social Darwinism calls for "inequality, survival of the fittest" and not
"liberty, survival of the unfittest. " However, this theory fails to acknowledge
that fitness can be a social construction. Social triage
appears linked to social Darwinism. Although it appeared that social Darwinism was
outdated, the connection between these theories may suggest a resurgence in its use.
Origins of the myth of social Darwinism: The ambiguous legacy of Richard Hofstadter's Social Darwinism in American Thought - Leonard, Thomas C.
Abstract: The term "social Darwinism" owes its currency and many of its connotations to Richard Hofstadter's influential Social Darwinism in American Thought, 1860-1915 (SDAT).
The post-SDAT meanings of social Darwinism are the product of an unresolved Whiggish tension in SDAT: Hofstadter championed economic reform over free market economy, but he also condemned biology in social science, this while many progressive social scientists surveyed in SDAT offered biological justifications for economic reform.
Social
Darwinism: A Determinant of Nuclear Arms Policy and Action
Alfred W. Clark,
Richard C. S. Trahair, Brian R. Graetz.
Results showed that people with a low adherence to a social Darwinist world view favored nuclear disarmament and a nonbelligerent defense policy, whereas people with a high adherence favored nuclear arms and a belligerent defense policy. P
eople lower on social Darwinism overcame the barrier and engaged in more political action than people higher on social Darwinism; and these people were more inclined to vote for,panerai replica watches or change their political allegiance to vote for a party that favored nuclear disarmament. The findings demonstrate the importance of social Darwinism as an ideology determining preferred nuclear arms policy and political action and commitment.
Hofstadter, Richard Social Darwinism in American Thought - Abstract
Darwin’s ideas were popularized in the United States just after the Civil War when there was rapid and striking economic change. The prevailing political mood was conservative.
Social Darwinism appealed to the well-to-do and powerful who wished to defend the status quo in politics and laissez-faire in business.
Social Darwinism was one of the leading strains in American conservative thought for more than a generation.
Social Darwinism was used to justify the hardness of life, the necessity of labor and the inevitability of suffering. Economic life punished those who were negligent, shiftless, inefficient or imprudent.
The controversy that surrounds the concept of the “welfare state” is the fact that the very idea affronts the traditions of a great many men and women who still hold to the tenets of social Darwinism.