Social Darwinism: The Origin Of Species

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Evolution: what a powerful, beautiful and interesting word. It represents change, adaptability and the survival of a species through generations. It proves that nature is perfect and not homogeneous in any way. Processes of evolution generate biodiversity in any ecosystem. This kind of processes, as Darwin explained on The Origin of Species, include a mechanism known as natural selection; this theory states that an organism’s suitability for a specific environment makes it more able to survive and reproduce. The result of this is that populations adapt to a specific ecosystem, and sooner or later species with accumulated variations form new species. Saying this, I want to explain and compare: If we adapt biologically, shouldn’t we adapt socially too? Basically, in an ecosystem the “strongest” one is who survives but, if we want to “translate” that to society, what is that “strength” out of the biological matters? I am surely talking about social …show more content…
Social Darwinism, which emerged in the second half of the 19th century, attempted to apply into society biological bases like the survival of the fittest. They were literalists of Charles Darwin’s work: they argued against biologically “weak” individuals that should be eradicated from society in order to make it stronger. With this kind of thoughts in mind, eugenics movements, racism, and even Nazism raised upon these thinkers. To contradict this kind of positions, I think the definition of “strength” for an individual in a society is not necessary biological strength. In fact, as I said before, an open mind and social adaptability are the strength an individual needs to be an integrated member of a

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