Social Darwinism

by Matt Finn

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Herbert Spencer upload.wikimedia.org
Works Cited: "Darwin's Theory Of Evolution." Darwin's Theory Of Evolution. Allaboutscience.org, n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2014. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2014. "Survival Theories Social Darwinism and Eugenics." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2014. Sweet, William. "Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2014. "What Is Social Darwinism." AllAboutScience.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2014.
Herbert Spencer - "Survival of the Fittest" www.iep.utm.edu Spencer, Herbert | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Definition of Social Darwinism dictionary.reference.com the definition of Social Darwinism
What is Social Darwinism? www.allaboutscience.org What is Social Darwinism - A social theory with nagging issues. Those with economic, physical, and/or technological power flourish, while others are destined for extinction.
Social Darwinism is based upon Darwin's theory of Evolution, seen here: www.darwins-theory-of-evolution.com Darwin's Theory Of Evolution - A theory in crisis in light of the tremendous advances we've made in molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics and information theory.
Social Darwinism is a term referring to a social viewpoint that developed in late 19th century Europe. The principles of this view were based upon the scientific findings of Charles Darwin, whose Theory of Evolution suggested that animals in the wild would adapt themselves over time in order to survive as a species. Philosopher Herbert Spencer applied Darwin's theory to the human race, coming to the conclusion that humans, like other animals, had adapted themselves over thousands of years so that they could maintain their existence. This idea did have consequences though, for it implied that there were groups of people in the world who were inferior in comparison to the majority of other humans. For instance, anthropologist Francis Galton believed that the existence of asylums which housed the mentally ill were not beneficial to the overall well being of the human race because they were allowing inferior beings to continue to survive in a world where they should have died. This idea was shared by Nazi German scientists, who attempted to isolate certain characteristics among the huge variety of human genes. This practice is called Eugenics and was performed in attempt to improve the human population by trying to eliminate "inferior" traits completely from the spectrum of the human gene pool.
historynewsnetwork.org The Horrifying American Roots of Nazi Eugenics
Francis Galton, the half cousin of Charles Darwin who was among the supporters of Eugenics. crimcongress.com
Video on Social Darwinism www.youtube.com Survival Theories Social Darwinism and Eugenics - YouTube
A Nazi Eugenics experiment conducted between two twin boys bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com

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