I have called this principle, by which each slight variation, if useful, is preserved, by the term Natural Selection. . . . The expression used by Mr. Herbert Spencer, of the Survival of the Fittest, is more accurate, and is sometimes equally convenient. .
Also contained in Darwin's theories was the notion of the "Struggle for Existence." In this struggle, the strong dominated the weak in acquiring the necessities of life: food, shelter, etc. This theory eventually fostered the notion that aggression and war were not wrong or evil; on the contrary, these destructive characteristics of mankind were indeed natural and even necessary. .
The idea of "Survival of the Fittest" coupled with the notion of the "Struggle for Existence" not only influenced the realm of science, but also profoundly influenced philosophical thought, especially concerning Man's relationship with his fellows. The new philosophies which evolved from Darwin's theories were decidedly secular, not unlike Darwin's theory itself. One of the most influential social and ethical philosophies associated with Darwin's theory was that of the British philosopher, Herbert Spencer. Popularly dubbed "Social Darwinism," Spencer first conceived the phrase "Survival of the Fittest." His theories proposed that human society progressed as a result of competition, and that it was ethically incumbent upon the strong members of society to avoid helping their weaker counterparts, lest the society, in its entirety, should suffer. According to Spencer, this ethical indifference to the plight of the weak serves to eventually strengthen the society. He argued that, over time, the weaker constituents of society, without the help of the strong, will not be able to survive and, therefore, reproduce, thus preventing the continuation of their weak lineage:.
The poverty of the incapable, the distresses that come upon the imprudent, the starvation of the idle, and those shoulderings aside of the weak by the strong, which leave so many "in shallows and in miseries," are the decrees of a large, farseeing benevolence.
