Darwinism

Wednesday, April 12, 2017 9:00 AM

Social Darwinism
• Social science misuse of biological

Darwinism
• Adapt to environment and transfer genes to offsprings to help them live better
• German biologists applied Darwinism to politics and saw that survivolist competition=
hard world, toughest survive
• People who are not able to be productive in society should not reproduce
○ People who are not productive to society should not reproduce
• Used darwins theory to show that some people are superior

Social Darwinism
• Ernst haeckel (1834-1919)
• German biologist - human extermination
• Attacked communism, democracy, humanism and religion
• These show that everyone has equal value and equal rights without anyone being superio
to another
• Scientific materialism - no such thing as a soul
• If we cant measure it or observe it - science doesn’t study it but it doesn’t mean it doesn’
exist
○ Others thing that these do not exist
• Germans believe that since we cannot study souls, it doesn’t exist
○ To say people do not have souls at all
○ Saw humans as objects
○ Individuals are not important it’s the society
• Clear human race of defective people
• Individual is nothing species is everything
• Not focus on individual rights but instead what makes species strong
• "do not make the unequal equal"
○ They did not believe everyone was equal, believed some were defective
○ Work and contribute to society
○ Clear race of defective people

German biologists politicized Darwin's theory of Evolution

• Infanticide
or

’t
 ○ They did not believe everyone was equal, believed some were defective
○ Work and contribute to society
○ Clear race of defective people

German biologists politicized Darwin's theory of Evolution

• Infanticide
○ If infant is born defective - not contribute to society and should not be allowed to
live
• Euthanasia
○ Mercy killing
○ Kill people who are old and people who are not productive
• Suicide
○ Encourage suicide for people who are not productive
• Eugenics
○ Promote Good genes
○ Breeding human race for positive characteristics

Eugenics
• In england: queen would marry another king from another area
○ Perpetuate the privileged classes
○ Privileged class would be with privileged
• Russia - married to cousins
○ Recessive genes would become dominant
• In the US
○ Slow down degenerate classes
○ We didn’t have a nobility
○ Slow down reproduction of people who were defective
○ Forced sterilization

Science of Eugenics
• Science can be used to cure "social ills"
○ Alcoholism
○ Poverty
○ Social dependency (welfare)
○ Shiftlessness (laziness)
○ Lack of moral control (crime)

Eugenics in the US
• Nature vs Nurture
• If someone is an alcoholic - sterilized
• 3 methods
○ Restrict immigration of Europeans (northern vs Southern Europeans)
§ People of descent of northern europe are superior
○ Prevent interracial marriages (illegal)
 • Nature vs Nurture
• If someone is an alcoholic - sterilized
• 3 methods
○ Restrict immigration of Europeans (northern vs Southern Europeans)
§ People of descent of northern europe are superior
○ Prevent interracial marriages (illegal)
○ Sterilize unfit
• Some of the ways they promoted eugenics - state fairs

On test : Page 157 lesson for the future , mainstream science, we cannot assume because
science is promoting it that it’s a good idea , real lesson is that it was practiced by racists