Malthus, Darwin, and Social Darwinism

Peter J Bowler, Queen's University, Belfast, UK

Published online: September 2006

DOI: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0005882

Darwin's theory of natural selection was inspired in part by T. R. Malthus's principle of population expansion. This was linked to the ideology of free-enterprise individualism, leading to claims that Darwin's theory reflected a similar ideology. Darwinism was certainly used to justify competitive social policies, but the relationship between science and ideology requires careful analysis.

Keywords: darwinism; ideology; struggle for existence; survival of the fittest

 References
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 Further Reading
    book Bowler PJ (1993) Biology and Social Thought, 1850–1914. Berkeley, CA: Office of the History of Science and Technology, University of California.
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    Rogers JA (1972) Darwinism and social Darwinism. Journal of the History of Ideas 33: 265–280.

Related Sub-Topics:

Evolution: Theories and Ideas | History | Philosophy of the Life Sciences
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Article Title: Malthus, Darwin, and Social Darwinism
 
How to Cite close
Bowler, Peter J(Sep 2006) Malthus, Darwin, and Social Darwinism. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0005882]