1、Introduction to social Darwinism,1. Definition,Social Darwinism is the philosophy that Darwins theory can be extended and applied to the social field.,Individual organisms(Competition),Individuals, groups, nations(Competition),Survival of the fittest,Biological evolutional Change (Speciation),Social
2、 evolution,2. Theories of Social Change and Social Darwinism,2.1 Theories of Social Change in Europe.,The Enlightenment thinkers who preceded Darwin, such as Hegel, often argued that societies progressed through stages of increasing development. Earlier thinkers also emphasized conflict as an inhere
3、nt feature of social life.Thomas Hobbess portrayal of the state of nature in Leviathan(利维坦) seems similar to the competition for natural resources described by Darwin.,Lamarck - Lamarckism A theory of biological evolution holding that species evolve by the inheritance of traits acquired or modified
4、through the use or disuse of body parts.,2.2 Darwins Unique Social Change Thoughts,Darwins unique discussion of evolution was over the supernatural in human development. Unlike Hobbes, he believed that this struggle for natural resources allowed individuals with certain physical and mental traits to
5、 succeed more frequently than others, and that these traits accumulated in the population over time, which under certain conditions could lead to the descendants being so different that they would be defined as a new species.,social instincts such as sympathy and moral sentiments also evolved throug
6、h natural selectionat some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate, and replace, the savage races throughout the world. (Descent of Man and Slection in Relation to Sex),Herbert Spencer,Cosmic evolution,2.3 Other Sources o
7、f Social Darwinism,1) Darwins theory is concerned with populations Spencers deals with the way an individuals motives influence humanity. 2) Darwins theory is probabilistic(或然论/盖然论) （evolution is based on changes in the environment that sooner or later influence the change of individuals in a collec
8、tive sense, but do not have any single, specific goal.） Spencers is deterministic(宿命论) （the evolution of human society is the only logical consequence of its previous stage）, fatalistic (it cannot be influenced by human actions) , single path (it travels a single path, cannot skip any stages or chan
9、ge them) and progressively finalistic (there is a final, perfect society that will be eventually reached).,3) Darwins theory (evolution) does not equal progress, except in the sense that the new, evolved species will be better suited to their changing environment. Spencers theory introduces the conc
10、ept of social progress the new, evolved society is always better than the past.,Thomas Malthus,An Essay on the Principle of Population,He argued that as an increasing population would normally outgrow its food supply, this would result in the starvation of the weakest and a Malthusian catastrophe. M
11、althus himself anticipated the social Darwinists in suggesting that charity could exacerbate social problems.,Francis Galton,Another social interpretation of Darwins biological views eugenics(优生学),Galton argued that just as physical traits were clearly inherited among generations of people, so could
12、 be said for mental qualities (genius and talent). Galton argued that social mores needed to change so that heredity was a conscious decision, in order to avoid over-breeding by less fit members of society and the under-breeding of the more fit ones.,In Galtons view, social institutions such as welf
13、are and insane refuge were allowing inferior humans to survive and reproduce at levels faster than the more superior humans in society, and if corrections were not soon taken, society would be awash with inferiors.,3. Critics and Reflection,Human history showed the benefits of cooperation and commun
14、ity. social instincts such as sympathy and moral sentiments“ differentiate human being from other animal. Although people are born unequally with different social background, physical and mental traits, there in human society we built moral system, law system, social charity etc, to emphasize equali
15、ty and keep balance.,3.1 Can “survival of the fittest” be applied to human society?,Human society has been through social divisions of labor(社会大分工), people with various physical and mental traits can find their positions in the society.The weaker man may have occasion to be alone, and may therefore
16、become quieter and wiser; the one-eyed man will have one eye the stronger; the blind man will see deeper inwardly, and certainly hear better. To this extent, the theory of the survival of the fittest does not seem to be able to explain the progress of strengthening of a man or of a race.,State of na
17、ture,Society/country,GlobalizationWorld country,- Transfer some individual rights to the government- Moral system, Law system: emphasize humane and equality- Examples: Tax system, Charity, Anti-monopoly,- Struggle for nature resources with cooperation and community,The promising but complicated step
18、 of social evolution We need a common “enemy” (environment change, alien attack) and the maximum of “common profit”.,3.2 Natural selection VS Artificial selection,Nietzsches philosophy address the question of artificial selection. Racism, Nazism and other forms of discrimination are artificial selec
19、tions. In fact, social Darwinism does not agree on that. The process of evolution is somewhat unconscious.However, in our society now we do have a system of artificial selection criminal law. We believe that those with low “moral sentiment” should be punished or made disappeared. That support the po
20、int that being a moral animal is a important step of human evolution.,Conclusion,In this system of human society, competition means making the fittest group do the fittest things, producing maximum “common profit”. Devices of equality is the methods to keep balance of the society.Equilibrium of Spencers cosmic evolution- the destination of evolution,Thank you very much!,
