by David N. Menton,
Ph.D.
It has been said that no book,
other than the Bible, has had a greater affect on society than Darwin's On the Origin of Species.
One of the worst features of Darwin's evolutionary theory
was that it invited not only a comparison between man and the apes, but also
between the "highest" and "lowest" humans. This feature of Darwinism most often cited by
those who attempt to justify their moral and social views with
"science" (evolution), is the concept of the "survival of the
fittest." This application of Darwinian ideas to human society and
behavior is known as Social Darwinism. Evolutionist Steven Jay Gould, wrote that
following the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859, "subsequent arguments for slavery, colonialism, racial
differences, class structures, and sex roles would go forth primarily under the
banner of science"
Blacks and American Indians were
among the first to be singled out as being "lower" than
Caucasians. In his book The Mismeasure of Man
(Chap. 3), Steven Jay Gould pointed out
that some anthropologists were not above falsifying their data to prove the
"superiority" of the white race.
For example, assuming brain size had something to do with intelligence
(it doesn't), many anthropologists intentionally exaggerated the size of
Caucasian skulls and underestimated the size of skulls from Blacks and
Indians. Social Darwinism thus came to
serve as a "scientific" justification for racism.
It might be argued that Darwin would never have
condoned this use of his "theory," but his own writings reveal
profoundly racist implications. In the
sixth chapter of his book The
Descent of Man, Darwin
predicted that eventually evolution would increase the gap between humans and
the lower apes through the extinction of such "evolutionary
intermediates" as gorillas and Negroes!
Darwin declared that "the break
will then be rendered wider, for it will intervene between man in a more
civilized state, as we may hope, than the Caucasian, and some ape as low as a
baboon, instead of as at present between the Negro or Australian and the
Gorilla" (The Descent of Man, Charles Darwin, 1871, p. 201).
In an effort to promote the
evolution of "higher forms" of humans, Darwin's cousin, Sir Francis Galton, founded
the Eugenics Movement. Eugenics is the "science" which
seeks to improve the biological makeup of the human species by selective
breeding. Galton advocated the
regulation of marriage and family size according to the genetic quality of the
parents. He believed that if controlled
breeding was applied to humans, as it was to farm animals, a perfect human
breed could be developed. This concept
of the "master race" was put into practice by Adolph Hitler in Germany in an
effort to create a "pure Aryan race," while exterminating
"inferior" Jews.
That Hitler based his fascism
on evolutionary theory is evident from both his speeches and his book Mein Kampf. Benito Mussolini, who brought fascism to Italy, was also
greatly influenced by Darwinism, which he thought supported his belief that violence
is essential for beneficial social transformation. Mussolini repeatedly used Darwinian
catchwords in his speeches and ridiculed efforts at peace because they
interfered with natural evolutionary process.
No discussion of the
devastating impact of Social Darwinism on society would be complete without
considering its strong influence on the development of Marxism and
Communism. Frederich Engels and Karl
Marx (co-founders of Communism) were exceedingly enthusiastic over Darwin's book On the Origin of Species. Karl Marx wrote a letter to Engels in
December of 1860 declaring that On the Origin of Species was "the book which contains
the basis in natural history for our views." In another letter to Engels in January of
1861, Marx declared: "Darwin's
book is very important and serves me as a basis of struggle in history” (As quoted by Conway Zirkle in: Evolution, Marxian Biology,
and the Social Scene, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1959,
p. 86).
Originally published
in St.
Louis MetroVoice, September 1994, Vol. 4, No.
9