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Social Darwinism and Eugenics

            Social Darwinism and Eugenics of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are often seen as theories based on scientific knowledge. However this is not wholly true. While eugenics was often loosely based on scientific theory, social Darwinism was not at all. One would be hard-pressed to find any science in social Darwinist thought. After reviewing the current literature on social Darwinism it is not clear that there was a cohesive movement of social Darwinism in America at all. When most authors were social theories that most consider to be social Darwinism they did not include the actual term "social Darwinism." Although Eugenics may have been loosely based on scientific theory it in itself was not a scientific theory. Eugenics seems to have been a group of people using at times shaky genetics to spread fear and oppression of the lower classes. Eugenics however did not last in the United States because it left a bad taste in the mouths of scientists when it became known as a science used by the Nazi's. .
             In order to discuss Social Darwinism one must first define the term. The problem is that it is a very difficult term to define. Usually when writers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century wrote on this theory they rarely used the actual term Social Darwinism. Richard Hofstadter presented social Darwinism as a convergence of evolution and social theory. Possibly the only obvious social Darwinist using this definition was Herbert Spencer. It would suit this discussion better to use the Encarta dictionary definition, "a discredited social theory stating that the political and economic advantages in a developed society are derived from the biological advantages of its collective membership." The later definition includes many more social theorists than the previous. I would define social Darwinism as a defunct social theory in which people tried to determine fitness within society using race and class that often was an excuse for acting out on social anxieties of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in industrialized countries.


Essays Related to Social Darwinism and Eugenics

1. Social Darwinism

Arguments in Favor of Social Darwinism Social Darwinism is the use of Darwin's theory of evolution on social problems of society. ... Herbert Spencer, the "father of social Darwinism", was a philosopher and scientist who developed his own theory, "the survival of the fittest". ... Governments created Eugenics programs designed to weed-out undesirable genes from the population. ... Social Darwinism also encouraged larger military and foreign expansion, thinking only the fittest country could survive. The Nazi Party in Germany used Social Darwinism to justify their eugenics programs in or...

  • Word Count: 500
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

2. Eugenics

Today, eugenics is becoming more hi-tech. Francis Galton coined the term eugenics in 1883. ... According to Galton, "Eugenics is the study of agencies under social control that may improve or impair the racial qualities of future generations, whether physically or mentally" (Encyclopedia Britannica). ... His theory was that humanity needs an artificial selection process because the natural selection process theorized by Darwin, as the "survival of the fittest" no longer applied. ... According to the DNA Learning Center: The Eugenics Record Office, in 1914, published a Model Eugenical S...

  • Word Count: 1897
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

3. Natural Selection and the Human Race

Though never applied by Darwin to Social structures, Darwin's ideas were open to interpretation, so the principles of Natural Selection were somewhat modified into what has become known as Social Darwinism. Social Darwinism appealed to the wealthy because in their understanding of it, the rich were simply the fittest, acquiring their wealth through superiority. ... Then of course Social Darwinism was eventually twisted into Eugenics, the weeding out of "undesirables" from the gene pool. Eugenics enjoyed moderate popularity through the latter first half of the century, in the United States...

  • Word Count: 997
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

4. Eugenics

Sir Francis Galton, cousin of Charles Darwin coined the word Eugenics, in 1883. ... Thus, he became the "father" of the field of Eugenics. ... Elements of the American eugenics movement were models for the Nazis, whose adaptation of eugenics culminated in the Holocaust. ... Finally in 1935, a panel convened by the Carnegie Institution, concluded that the vast majority of work sponsored by the Eugenics Record Office was without scientific merit and recommended a halt to its eugenic social programs; though they persisted until severe pressure from the public and association with the Nazi euge...

  • Word Count: 1062
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

5. Racism and Ethnicity

This is where Social Darwinism comes into play. Social Darwinism deals with the principles of evolution, survival of the fittest, and natural selection to human groups. The idea of "social Darwinism" has often been used as a general term for any evolutionary argument about the biological basis of human differences. Following Social Darwinism was eugenics. ... Examples of eugenics are forced sterilization, euthanasia, and genocide. ...

  • Word Count: 925
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

6. Cloning

Eugenics is concerned with the social direction of human evolution. A distinction is made between positive and negative eugenics. ... The First International Congress for Eugenics was held in 1912 in London. ... For example, Charles Darwin's son presided, while Winston Churchill led the British delegation. ... Individual abuses of cloning, however, also have social ramifications. ...

  • Word Count: 2349
  • Approx Pages: 9
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

7. Downside of cloning

Eugenics is concerned with the social direction of human evolution. A distinction is made between positive and negative eugenics. ... The First International Congress for Eugenics was held in 1912 in London. ... For example, Charles Darwin's son presided, while Winston Churchill led the British delegation. ... Individual abuses of cloning, however, also have social ramifications. ...

  • Word Count: 2354
  • Approx Pages: 9
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

8. What cloning means in the worl

Before cloning the term used was eugenics. Which is concerned with the social direction of human evolution. . A distinction is made between positive and negative eugenics. ... The First International Congress for Eugenics was held in 1912 in London. ... For example, Charles Darwin's son presided, while Winston Churchill led the British delegation. ...

  • Word Count: 1675
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Grade Level: High School

9. Genetically Engineered Babies

Darwin's theory of evolution seems to have held its ground. ... For those who are unfamiliar with the term, eugenics refers to a widespread social movement that encourages well-educated, affluent people to reproduce and discourages those less privileged from doing so. The end goal of eugenics is a stronger, healthier, and more intelligent human race. ... Of course, eugenics was clearly disapproved of when it was attempted in Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s. Yet we still somehow find an affinity towards future eugenics programs. ...

  • Word Count: 1694
  • Approx Pages: 7

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