View source for Biology:Darwinism

{{short description|Theory of biological evolution}}
[[File:Charles Darwin by Julia Margaret Cameron, c. 1868.jpg|thumb|Charles Darwin in 1868]]

'''Darwinism''' is a [[Scientific theory|theory]] of [[Biology:Biology|biological]] [[Biology:Evolution|evolution]] developed by the English naturalist [[Biography:Charles Darwin|Charles Darwin]] (1809–1882) and others, stating that all [[Biology:Species|species]] of organisms arise and develop through the [[Biology:Natural selection|natural selection]] of small, inherited variations that increase the individual's ability to compete, survive, and [[Biology:Reproduction|reproduce]]. Also called '''Darwinian theory''', it originally included the broad concepts of [[Biology:Transmutation of species|transmutation of species]] or of evolution which gained general scientific acceptance after Darwin published ''On the Origin of Species'' in 1859, including concepts which predated Darwin's theories. English biologist [[Biography:Thomas Henry Huxley|Thomas Henry Huxley]] coined the term ''Darwinism'' in April 1860.<ref name="Westminster">{{cite journal |last=Huxley |first=T.H. |date=April 1860 |title=ART. VIII.—Darwin on the Origin of Species |url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=side&itemID=A32&pageseq=30|journal=Westminster Review |type=Book review |location=London |publisher=Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy |volume=17 |pages=541–570 |accessdate=2008-06-19 |quote=What if the orbit of Darwinism should be a little too circular?}}</ref> 

==Terminology==
Darwinism subsequently referred to the specific concepts of natural selection, the [[Biology:Weismann barrier|Weismann barrier]], or the [[Biology:Central dogma of molecular biology|central dogma of molecular biology]].<ref name="antidarwinian">{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/anti-darwin.html |title=So You Want to be an Anti-Darwinian: Varieties of Opposition to Darwinism |last=Wilkins |first=John |date=21 December 1998 |website=[[Biology:TalkOrigins Archive|TalkOrigins Archive]] |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2008-06-19}}</ref> Though the term usually refers strictly to biological evolution, [[Philosophy:Creationism|creationists]] have appropriated it to refer to the [[Biology:Abiogenesis|origin of life]] or to [[Astronomy:Physical cosmology|cosmic evolution]], that are distinct to biological evolution.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bleckmann|first=Charles A.|date=2006-02-01|title=Evolution and Creationism in Science: 1880–2000|journal=BioScience|language=en|volume=56|issue=2|pages=151–158|doi=10.1641/0006-3568(2006)056[0151:EACIS]2.0.CO;2|issn=0006-3568|doi-access=free}}</ref> It is therefore considered the belief and acceptance of Darwin's and of his predecessors' work, in place of other concepts, including [[Astronomy:Teleological argument|divine design]] and [[Biology:Panspermia|extraterrestrial origins]].<ref name="EOflunks">{{cite web |url=http://expelledexposed.drupalgardens.com/contest/on-what-evolution-explains |title=...on what evolution explains |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website=Expelled Exposed |publisher=[[Organization:National Center for Science Education|National Center for Science Education]] |location=Oakland, CA |access-date=2015-11-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151025112923/http://expelledexposed.drupalgardens.com/contest/on-what-evolution-explains |archive-date=25 October 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="GalacticDarwinism">{{cite press release |last1=Le Fèvre |first1=Olivier |last2=Marinoni |first2=Christian |date=6 December 2006 |title=Do Galaxies Follow Darwinian Evolution? |url=https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso0645/ |location=Marseille, France |publisher=[[Organization:European Southern Observatory|European Southern Observatory]] |id=eso0645 |access-date=2015-11-15}}</ref>

English biologist [[Biography:Thomas Henry Huxley|Thomas Henry Huxley]] coined the term ''Darwinism'' in April 1860.<ref name="westminster">{{cite journal |last=Huxley |first=T.H. |date=April 1860 |title=ART. VIII.—Darwin on the Origin of Species |url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=side&itemID=A32&pageseq=29 |journal=Westminster Review |type=Book review |location=London |publisher=Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy |volume=17 |pages=541–570 |access-date=2008-06-19 |quote=What if the orbit of Darwinism should be a little too circular?}}</ref> It was used to describe evolutionary concepts in general, including earlier concepts published by English philosopher [[Biography:Herbert Spencer|Herbert Spencer]]. Many of the proponents of Darwinism at that time, including Huxley, had reservations about the significance of natural selection, and Darwin himself gave credence to what was later called [[Biology:Lamarckism|Lamarckism]]. The strict [[Biology:Neo-Darwinism|neo-Darwinism]] of German evolutionary biologist [[Biography:August Weismann|August Weismann]] gained few supporters in the late 19th century. During the approximate period of the 1880s to about 1920, sometimes called "[[Biology:The eclipse of Darwinism|the eclipse of Darwinism]]", scientists proposed various alternative evolutionary mechanisms which eventually proved untenable.  The development of the [[Biology:Modern synthesis (20th century)|modern synthesis]] in the early 20th century, incorporating natural selection with [[Biology:Population genetics|population genetics]] and [[Biology:Mendelian inheritance|Mendelian genetics]], revived Darwinism in an updated form.<ref name="b222">{{harvnb|Bowler|2003|pp=179, 222–225, 338–339, 347}}</ref>

While the term ''Darwinism'' has remained in use amongst the public when referring to modern evolutionary theory, it has increasingly been argued by science writers such as [[Biography:Olivia Judson|Olivia Judson]], [[Biography:Eugenie Scott|Eugenie Scott]], and Carl Safina that it is an inappropriate term for modern evolutionary theory.<ref name="Scott Branch 09">{{cite journal |last1=Scott |first1=Eugenie C. |last2=Branch |first2=Glenn |author-link2=Glenn Branch |date=16 January 2009 |title=Don't Call it 'Darwinism' |journal=Evolution: Education and Outreach |publisher=[[Company:Springer Science+Business Media|Springer Science+Business Media]] |location=New York |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=90–94 |doi=10.1007/s12052-008-0111-2 |issn=1936-6426|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Judson |first=Olivia |author-link=Olivia Judson |date=15 July 2008 |title=Let's Get Rid of Darwinism |url=http://judson.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/lets-get-rid-of-darwinism/ |newspaper={{wipe|The New York Times}} |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=2015-11-16 |archive-date=5 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171105044340/https://judson.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/lets-get-rid-of-darwinism/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Safina |first=Carl |author-link=Carl Safina |date=9 February 2009 |title=Darwinism Must Die So That Darwin May Live |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/science/10essa.html |newspaper={{wipe|The New York Times}}  |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=2020-10-07}}</ref> For example, Darwin was unfamiliar with the work of the [[Place:Moravia|Moravia]]n scientist and Augustinian [[Religion:Friar|friar]] [[Biography:Gregor Mendel|Gregor Mendel]],<ref>{{cite journal|last=Sclater|first=Andrew|date=June 2006|title=The extent of Charles Darwin's knowledge of Mendel|journal=[[Biology:Journal of Biosciences|Journal of Biosciences]]|location=Bangalore, India|publisher=Indian Academy of Sciences / Springer India|volume=31|issue=2|pages=191–193|doi=10.1007/BF02703910|issn=0250-5991|pmid=16809850|s2cid=860470}}<!--|access-date=2009-01-03--></ref> and as a result had only a vague and inaccurate understanding of [[Biology:Heredity|heredity]]. He naturally had no inkling of later theoretical developments and, like Mendel himself, knew nothing of [[Biology:Genetic drift|genetic drift]], for example.<ref name="GeneticDrift">{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/genetic-drift.html |title=Random Genetic Drift |last=Moran |first=Laurence |date=22 January 1993 |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2008-06-27}}</ref><ref name="whatis">{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/darwinism.html |title=What is Darwinism? |last=Hanes |first=Joel |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2008-06-19}}</ref>

In the United States, creationists often use the term "Darwinism" as a pejorative term in reference to beliefs such as [[Metaphysical naturalism|scientific materialism]].  This is now also the case even in the United Kingdom.<ref name="Scott Branch 09" />

==Huxley and Kropotkin==
[[File:Editorial cartoon depicting Charles Darwin as an ape (1871).jpg|thumb|upright|As evolution became widely accepted in the 1870s, caricatures of Charles Darwin with the body of an ape or monkey symbolised evolution.<ref>{{harvnb|Browne|2002|pp=376–379}}</ref>]]

Huxley, upon first reading Darwin's theory in 1858, responded, "How extremely stupid not to have thought of that!"<ref>{{Harvnb|Huxley|1893}} vol. 1, p.189.</ref>

While the term ''Darwinism'' had been used previously to refer to the work of Erasmus Darwin in the late 18th century, the term as understood today was introduced when Charles Darwin's 1859 book ''On the Origin of Species'' was reviewed by Thomas Henry Huxley in the April 1860 issue of the ''Westminster Review''.<ref name="urlThe Huxley File § 4 Darwins Bulldog">{{cite web |url=http://aleph0.clarku.edu/huxley/guide4.html |title=Darwin's Bulldog |last1=Blinderman |first1=Charles |last2=Joyce |first2=David |website=The Huxley File |publisher=[[Organization:Clark University|Clark University]] |location=Worcester, MA |access-date=2008-06-29}}</ref> Having hailed the book as "a veritable Whitworth gun in the armoury of liberalism" promoting [[Philosophy:Naturalism|scientific naturalism]] over [[Religion:Theology|theology]], and praising the usefulness of Darwin's ideas while expressing professional reservations about Darwin's [[Earth:Gradualism|gradualism]] and doubting if it could be proved that natural selection could form new species,<ref>{{harvnb|Browne|2002|pp=105–106}}</ref> Huxley compared Darwin's achievement to that of [[Biography:Nicolaus Copernicus|Nicolaus Copernicus]] in explaining planetary motion:
{{quotation|What if the orbit of Darwinism should be a little too circular? What if species should offer residual phenomena, here and there, not explicable by natural selection? Twenty years hence naturalists may be in a position to say whether this is, or is not, the case; but in either event they will owe the author of "The Origin of Species" an immense debt of gratitude.... And viewed as a whole, we do not believe that, since the publication of Von Baer's "Researches on Development," thirty years ago, any work has appeared calculated to exert so large an influence, not only on the future of Biology, but in extending the domination of Science over regions of thought into which she has, as yet, hardly penetrated.<ref name="westminster" />}}

These are the basic tenets of evolution by natural selection as defined by Darwin:

# More individuals are produced each generation than can survive.
# Phenotypic variation exists among individuals and the variation is heritable.
# Those individuals with heritable traits better suited to the environment will survive.
# When reproductive isolation occurs new species will form.

Another important evolutionary theorist of the same period was the Russian geographer and prominent anarchist [[Biography:Peter Kropotkin|Pyotr Kropotkin]] who, in his book ''[[Organization:Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution|Mutual Aid]]'' (1902), advocated a conception of Darwinism counter to that of Huxley. His conception was centred around what he saw as the widespread use of co-operation as a survival mechanism in human societies and animals. He used biological and sociological arguments in an attempt to show that the main factor in facilitating evolution is cooperation between individuals in free-associated societies and groups. This was in order to counteract the conception of fierce [[Biology:Competition|competition]] as the core of evolution, which provided a [[Philosophy:Rationalization (psychology)|rationalization]] for the dominant political, economic and social theories of the time; and the prevalent interpretations of Darwinism, such as those by Huxley, who is targeted as an opponent by Kropotkin. Kropotkin's conception of Darwinism could be summed up by the following quote:

{{quotation|In the animal world we have seen that the vast majority of species live in societies, and that they find in association the best arms for the struggle for life: understood, of course, in its wide Darwinian sense—not as a struggle for the sheer means of existence, but as a struggle against all natural conditions unfavourable to the species. The animal species, in which individual struggle has been reduced to its narrowest limits, and the practice of mutual aid has attained the greatest development, are invariably the most numerous, the most prosperous, and the most open to further progress. The mutual protection which is obtained in this case, the possibility of attaining old age and of accumulating experience, the higher intellectual development, and the further growth of sociable habits, secure the maintenance of the species, its extension, and its further progressive evolution. The unsociable species, on the contrary, are doomed to decay.<ref>{{harvnb|Kropotkin|1902|p=293}}</ref>|Peter Kropotkin|Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution (1902), Conclusion}}

==Other 19th-century usage==
"Darwinism" soon came to stand for an entire range of evolutionary (and often revolutionary) philosophies about both biology and society. One of the more prominent approaches, summed in the 1864 phrase "[[Biology:Survival of the fittest|survival of the fittest]]" by Herbert Spencer, later became emblematic of Darwinism even though Spencer's own understanding of evolution (as expressed in 1857) was more similar to that of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck than to that of Darwin, and predated the publication of Darwin's theory in 1859. What is now called "[[Social:Social Darwinism|Social Darwinism]]" was, in its day, synonymous with "Darwinism"—the application of Darwinian principles of "struggle" to society, usually in support of anti-philanthropic political agenda. Another interpretation, one notably favoured by Darwin's half-cousin [[Biography:Francis Galton|Francis Galton]], was that "Darwinism" implied that because natural selection was apparently no longer working on "civilized" people, it was possible for "inferior" strains of people (who would normally be filtered out of the [[Biology:Gene pool|gene pool]]) to overwhelm the "superior" strains, and voluntary corrective measures would be desirable—the foundation of [[Biology:Eugenics|eugenics]].

{{anchor|Darwinismus}}
In Darwin's day there was no rigid definition of the term "Darwinism", and it was used by opponents and proponents of Darwin's biological theory alike to mean whatever they wanted it to in a larger context. The ideas had international influence, and [[Biography:Ernst Haeckel|Ernst Haeckel]] developed what was known as ''Darwinismus'' in Germany, although, like Spencer's "evolution", Haeckel's "Darwinism" had only a rough resemblance to the theory of Charles Darwin, and was not centred on natural selection.<ref>Schmitt S. (2009). ''Haeckel: A German Darwinian?'' Comptes Rendus Biologies: 332: 110–118.</ref> In 1886, [[Biography:Alfred Russel Wallace|Alfred Russel Wallace]] went on a lecture tour across the United States, starting in New York and going via Boston, Washington, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska to California, lecturing on what he called "Darwinism" without any problems.<ref>{{cite episode |title=Evolution and Wonder: Understanding Charles Darwin |url=http://www.onbeing.org/program/evolution-and-wonder-understanding-charles-darwin/transcript/899#main_content |access-date=2015-11-16 |series=Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett |first1=Krista (host) |last1=Tippett |first2=James |last2=Moore |author-link2=James Moore (biographer) |network=NPR |type=Transcript |airdate=5 February 2009 |archive-date=18 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151118040338/http://www.onbeing.org/program/evolution-and-wonder-understanding-charles-darwin/transcript/899#main_content |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In his book ''Darwinism'' (1889), Wallace had used the term ''pure-Darwinism'' which proposed a "greater efficacy" for [[Biology:Natural selection|natural selection]].<ref>Wallace, Alfred Russel. (1889). [https://archive.org/stream/darwinismexposit00walluoft#page/n11/mode/2up ''Darwinism: An Exposition of the Theory of Natural Selection, with Some of Its Applications'']. Macmillan and Company.</ref><ref>Heilbron, John L. (2003). ''The Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science''. OUP USA. p. 203. {{ISBN|978-0195112290}}</ref> [[Biography:George Romanes|George Romanes]] dubbed this view as "Wallaceism", noting that in contrast to Darwin, this position was advocating a "pure theory of natural selection to the exclusion of any supplementary theory."<ref>Romanes, John George. (1906). [https://archive.org/stream/darwinafterdarwi02romabost#page/12/mode/2up "Darwin and After Darwin: An Exposition of the Darwinian Theory and a Discussion of Post-Darwinian Questions"]. ''Volume 2: Heredity and Utility''. The Open Court Publishing Company. p. 12</ref><ref>Costa, James T. (2014). ''Wallace, Darwin, and the Origin of Species''. Harvard University Press. p. 274. {{ISBN|978-0674729698}}</ref> Taking influence from Darwin, Romanes was a proponent of both natural selection and the inheritance of acquired characteristics. The latter was denied by Wallace who was a strict selectionist.<ref>Bolles, R. C; Beecher, M. D. (1987). ''Evolution and Learning''. Psychology Press. p. 45. {{ISBN|978-0898595420}}</ref> Romanes' definition of Darwinism conformed directly with Darwin's views and was contrasted with Wallace's definition of the term.<ref>Elsdon-Baker, F. (2008). ''Spirited dispute: the secret split between Wallace and Romanes''. Endeavour 32(2): 75–78</ref>

==Contemporary usage==
The term ''Darwinism'' is often used in the United States by promoters of [[Philosophy:Creationism|creationism]], notably by leading members of the [[Unsolved:Intelligent design movement|intelligent design movement]], as an epithet to attack evolution as though it were an ideology (an "ism") based on philosophical naturalism, [[Philosophy:Atheism|atheism]], or both.<ref name="genie">Scott 2007, "Creation Science Lite: 'Intelligent Design' as the New Anti-Evolutionism," p. [https://web.archive.org/web/20100603214827/http://biology.ucf.edu/~clp/Courses/seminar/papers/07-Scott-scientists_confront-cs_lite.pdf 72]</ref> For example, in 1993, [[Organization:University of California, Berkeley|UC Berkeley]] law professor and author [[Biography:Phillip E. Johnson|Phillip E. Johnson]] made this accusation of atheism with reference to [[Biography:Charles Hodge#Darwinism|Charles Hodge]]'s 1874 book ''What Is Darwinism?''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.arn.org/docs/johnson/wid.htm |title=What is Darwinism? |last=Johnson |first=Phillip E. |date=31 August 1996 |website=[[Organization:Access Research Network|Access Research Network]] |location=Colorado Springs, CO |access-date=2007-01-04}} "This paper was originally delivered as a lecture at a symposium at Hillsdale College, in November 1992. Papers from the Symposium were published in the collection ''Man and Creation: Perspectives on Science and Theology'' (Bauman ed. 1993), by Hillsdale College Press, Hillsdale MI 49242."</ref> However, unlike Johnson, Hodge confined the term to exclude those like American botanist Asa Gray who combined Christian faith with support for Darwin's natural selection theory, before answering the question posed in the book's title by concluding: "It is Atheism."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theropps.com/papers/Winter1997/CharlesHodge.htm |title=Charles Hodge and His Objection to Darwinism: The Exclusion of Intelligent Design |last=Ropp |first=Matthew |website=theRopps.com |location=Chesterbrook, PA |access-date=2007-01-04}} Paper for CH506: American Church History, Dr. Nathan Feldmeth, Winter Quarter 1997, "written while a student in the School of World Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Hodge|1874}}</ref>

Creationists use pejoratively the term ''Darwinism'' to imply that the theory has been held as true only by Darwin and a core group of his followers, whom they cast as [[Philosophy:Dogma|dogma]]tic and inflexible in their belief.<ref name=morrissullivan>{{cite journal |last=Sullivan |first=Morris |date=Spring 2005 |title=From the Beagle to the School Board: God Goes Back to School |url=http://www.impactpress.com/articles/spring05/sullivanspring05.html |journal=Impact Press |location=Orlando, FL |publisher=Loudmouth Productions |issue=56 |access-date=2008-09-18}}</ref> In the 2008 documentary film ''[[Unsolved:Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed|Expelled]]'', which promotes [[Unsolved:Intelligent design|intelligent design]] (ID), American writer and actor [[Biography:Ben Stein|Ben Stein]] refers to scientists as Darwinists. Reviewing the film for ''Scientific American'', John Rennie says "The term is a curious throwback, because in modern biology almost no one relies solely on Darwin's original ideas... Yet the choice of terminology isn't random: Ben Stein wants you to stop thinking of evolution as an actual science supported by verifiable facts and logical arguments and to start thinking of it as a dogmatic, atheistic ideology akin to [[Philosophy:Marxism|Marxism]]."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Rennie |first=John  |date=9 April 2008 |title=Ben Stein's ''Expelled'': No Integrity Displayed |url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ben-steins-expelled-review-john-rennie/ |journal=Scientific American |location=Stuttgart |publisher=Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group |issn=0036-8733 |access-date=2015-11-16}}</ref>

However, ''Darwinism'' is also used neutrally within the scientific community to distinguish the modern evolutionary synthesis, which is sometimes called "[[Biology:Neo-Darwinism|neo-Darwinism]]", from those first proposed by Darwin. ''Darwinism'' also is used neutrally by historians to differentiate his theory from other evolutionary theories current around the same period. For example, ''Darwinism'' may refer to Darwin's proposed mechanism of natural selection, in comparison to more recent mechanisms such as genetic drift and [[Biology:Gene flow|gene flow]]. It may also refer specifically to the role of Charles Darwin as opposed to others in the history of evolutionary thought—particularly contrasting Darwin's results with those of earlier theories such as [[Biology:Lamarckism|Lamarckism]] or later ones such as the modern evolutionary synthesis.

In political discussions in the United States, the term is mostly used by its enemies.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Constitutional Rights Foundation|url=https://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-19-2-b-social-darwinism-and-american-laissez-faire-capitalism.html|website=www.crf-usa.org|access-date=2020-05-25}}</ref> "It's a rhetorical device to make evolution seem like a kind of faith, like '[[Philosophy:Maoism|Maoism]],{{'"}} says [[Organization:Harvard University|Harvard University]] biologist [[Biography:E. O. Wilson|E. O. Wilson]]. He adds, "Scientists don't call it 'Darwinism'."<ref>{{cite news |last=Adler |first=Jerry |date=28 November 2005 |title=Charles Darwin: Evolution of a Scientist |url=http://www.newsweek.com/evolution-scientist-113733 |work=Newsweek |location=New York |publisher=Newsweek LLC |volume=146 |issue=22 |pages=50–58 |issn=0028-9604 |access-date=2015-11-16}}</ref> In the {{wipe|United Kingdom}}, the term often retains its positive sense as a reference to natural selection, and for example British [[Biology:Ethology|ethologist]] and evolutionary biologist [[Biography:Richard Dawkins|Richard Dawkins]] wrote in his collection of essays ''A Devil's Chaplain'', published in 2003, that as a scientist he is a Darwinist.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.beliefnet.com/News/Science-Religion/2003/12/Religion-For-Dummies.aspx |title=Religion: For Dummies |last=Sheahen |first=Laura |website=Beliefnet |publisher=BN Media, LLC |location=Norfolk, VA |access-date=2015-11-16}}</ref>

In his 1995 book ''Darwinian Fairytales'', Australian philosopher [[Biography:David Stove|David Stove]]<ref>{{harvnb|Stove|1995}}</ref> used the term "Darwinism" in a different sense than the above examples. Describing himself as non-religious and as accepting the concept of natural selection as a well-established fact, Stove nonetheless attacked what he described as flawed concepts proposed by some "Ultra-Darwinists." Stove alleged that by using weak or false ''ad hoc'' reasoning, these Ultra-Darwinists used evolutionary concepts to offer explanations that were not valid: for example, Stove suggested that the [[Philosophy:Sociobiology|sociobiological]] explanation of [[Philosophy:Altruism|altruism]] as an evolutionary feature was presented in such a way that the argument was effectively immune to any criticism. English philosopher [[Biography:Simon Blackburn|Simon Blackburn]] wrote a rejoinder to Stove,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Blackburn |first=Simon |date=October 1996 |title=I Rather Think I Am a Darwinian |journal=Philosophy |location=Cambridge |volume=71 |number=278 |pages=605–616 |issn=0031-8191 |jstor=3751128 |doi=10.1017/s0031819100053523|s2cid=170606849 }}</ref> though a subsequent essay by Stove's protégé [[Biography:James Franklin (philosopher)|James Franklin]]<ref>{{cite journal |last=Franklin |first=James |author-link=James Franklin (philosopher) |date=January 1997 |title=Stove's Anti-Darwinism |url=http://web.maths.unsw.edu.au/~jim/stovesantidarwinism.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110228164839/http://web.maths.unsw.edu.au/~jim/stovesantidarwinism.pdf |archive-date=2011-02-28 |url-status=live |journal=Philosophy |location=Cambridge |volume=72 |number=279 |pages=133–136 |issn=0031-8191 |jstor=3751309 |doi=10.1017/s0031819100056692|s2cid=143421255 }}</ref> suggested that Blackburn's response actually "confirms Stove's central thesis that Darwinism can 'explain' anything."

In more recent times, the Australian moral philosopher and professor [[Biography:Peter Singer|Peter Singer]], who serves as the Ira&nbsp;W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at [[Organization:Princeton University|Princeton University]], has proposed the development of a "Darwinian [[Social:Left-wing politics|left]]" based on the contemporary scientific understanding of [[Biology:Biological anthropology|biological anthropology]], [[Biology:Human evolution|human evolution]], and [[Philosophy:Applied ethics|applied ethics]] in order to achieve the establishment of a more [[Social:Social equality|equal]] and cooperative human society in accordance with the sociobiological explanation of altruism.<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Singer |author-first=Peter |year=2021 |origyear=2010 |chapter=A Darwinian Left: Politics, Evolution, and Cooperation |editor-last=Ruse |editor-first=Michael |title=Philosophy after Darwin: Classic and Contemporary Readings |location=Princeton, New Jersey and Woodstock, Oxfordshire |publisher=Princeton University Press |pages=343–349 |doi=10.1515/9781400831296-039 |isbn=9781400831296}}</ref>

==Esoteric usage==
In [[Philosophy:Evolutionary aesthetics|evolutionary aesthetics]] theory, there is evidence that perceptions of beauty are determined by [[Biology:Natural selection|natural selection]] and therefore Darwinian; that things, aspects of people and landscapes considered beautiful are typically found in situations likely to give enhanced survival of the perceiving human's [[Biology:Gene|gene]]s.<ref>The Oxford Handbook for Aesthetics</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ted.com/talks/denis_dutton_a_darwinian_theory_of_beauty.html|title=A Darwinian theory of beauty|website=ted.com|access-date=1 May 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140211012601/http://www.ted.com/talks/denis_dutton_a_darwinian_theory_of_beauty.html|archive-date=11 February 2014|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Div col|small=yes}}
* Darwin Awards
* [[Biology:Evidence of common descent|Evidence of common descent]]
* History of evolutionary thought
* [[Biology:Modern synthesis (20th century)|Modern evolutionary synthesis]]
* [[Philosophy:Neural Darwinism|Neural Darwinism]]
* [[Biology:Pangenesis|Pangenesis]]—Charles Darwin's hypothetical mechanism for heredity
* [[Biology:Speciation|Speciation]]
* [[Biology:Universal Darwinism|Universal Darwinism]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Bowler |first=Peter J. |year=2003 |title=Evolution: The History of an Idea |edition=3rd completely rev. and expanded |location=Berkeley, CA |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=0-520-23693-9 |lccn=2002007569 |oclc=49824702 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/evolutionhistory0000bowl_n7y8 }}
* {{cite book |last=Browne |first=Janet |year=2002 |title=Charles Darwin: The Power of Place |volume=2 |location=London |publisher=Jonathan Cape |isbn=0-679-42932-8 |lccn=94006598 |oclc=733100564 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/charlesdarwin00jane }}
* {{cite book |last=Hodge |first=Charles |year=1874 |title=What is Darwinism? |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19192/19192-h/19192-h.htm |location=New York |publisher=Scribner, Armstrong, and Company |lccn=06012878 |oclc=11489956 |access-date=2015-11-16 }}
* {{cite book |last=Huxley |first=Thomas Henry |year=1893 |title=Darwiniana: Essays |url=https://archive.org/stream/b21500009#page/n3/mode/2up |publisher=Macmillan and Company}}
* {{cite book |last=Kropotkin |first=Peter |year=1902 |title=Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution |location=New York |publisher=McClure Phillips & Co. |lccn=03000886 |oclc=1542829 }} {{Internet Archive|id=cu31924030243640|name=Mutual aid; a factor of evolution (1902)}} Retrieved 2015-11-17.
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Petto |editor1-first=Andrew J. |editor2-last=Godfrey |editor2-first=Laurie R. |year=2007 |orig-year=Originally published 2007 as ''Scientists Confront Intelligent Design and Creationism'' |title=Scientists Confront Creationism: Intelligent Design and Beyond |location=New York |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0-393-33073-1 |lccn=2006039753 |oclc=173480577 |ref=Petto & Godfrey 2007}}
* {{cite book |last=Stove |first=David |year=1995 |title=Darwinian Fairytales |series=Avebury Series in Philosophy |location=Aldershot, Hants, England; Brookfield, VT |publisher=Avebury |isbn=1-85972-306-3 |lccn=95083037 |oclc=35145565 }}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{in lang|ru}} [[Biography:Nikolay Danilevsky|Danilevsky, Nikolay]]. 1885-1889 [http://new.runivers.ru/lib/book3542/ ''Darwinism: A Critical Study''] (Дарвинизм. Критическое исследование) at Runivers.ru in [[DjVu]] format.
*Fiske, John. (1885). [https://archive.org/stream/darwinismandothe00fiskiala#page/n7/mode/2up ''Darwinism, and Other Essays'']. Houghton Mifflin and Company.
* [[Biography:Ernst Mayr|Mayr, Ernst]]. (1985). ''The Growth of Biological Thought: Diversity, Evolution, and Inheritance''. Harvard University Press.
* [[Biography:George Romanes|Romanes, John George]]. (1906). [https://archive.org/stream/darwinafterdarwi02romabost#page/n5/mode/2up ''Darwin and After Darwin: An Exposition of the Darwinian Theory and a Discussion of Post-Darwinian Questions'']. ''Volume 2: Heredity and Utility''. The Open Court Publishing Company.
* [[Biography:Alfred Russel Wallace|Wallace, Alfred Russel]]. (1889). [https://archive.org/stream/darwinismexposit00walluoft#page/n7/mode/2up ''Darwinism: An Exposition of the Theory of Natural Selection, with Some of Its Applications'']. Macmillan and Company.
*Simon, C. (2019). Taking Darwinism seriously. ''Animal Sentience'', ''3''(23), 47.

==External links==
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Lennox |first=James |editor-last=Zalta |editor-first=Edward N. |encyclopedia=[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]] |title=Darwinism |url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/darwinism/ |access-date=2015-11-16 |edition=Summer 2015 |date=26 May 2015 |publisher=The Metaphysics Research Lab, Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI), [[Organization:Stanford University|Stanford University]] |location=Stanford, CA}}
{{History of biology}}
{{Darwin}}
{{Philosophy of biology}}


[[Category:Biology theories]]

{{Sourceattribution|Darwinism}}