Social Darwinism Vs Eugenics

Locke’s ideas from the Two Treatises of Government and An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, were based upon the natural rights where power comes from the people. Both of his pieces contributed to revolutions, most importantly the American Revolution as power from monarchies was removed and democracies were created. Allowed for limited government power and all obligations were to the citizens. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding basis was on how the knowledge existence of God, certain moral truths, and laws of logic or mathematics pertained to the natural rights of

Darwin’s theory was about the Origin of species. According to his theory there is a natural law in place. The law of natural selection, which presents the idea that there is a natural system by which the strongest and most intelligent specimen of each races survives to produce offspring and so on while the rest die out. White-supremacists hold this theory as the validation of their claims and “moral” justifications for their crimes against a supposedly inferior race. Hence the “strongest and most intelligent” specimen has the right to life as well as being the sole proprietor of mankind’s resources.

I will explain the arguments put forward by Kant to justify this domination and also shed some light on the practicality of Kant’s prediction. Other than Kant’s text, I will also include some secondary texts. Kant says that human actions are determined by natural laws like any other natural event. He says that what seems to be complex and chaotic in a single individual can be seen from the standpoint of the human race as a whole to be a steady and progressive slow evolution. Every individual, according to his own inclinations and purposes chooses his path, often in opposition to others; yet each individual and people, as if following some guiding thread, go toward a natural but to each of them unknown goal.

A leading 19th century psychologist named William James stated this about propaganda: "There's nothing so absurd that if you repeat it often enough, people will believe it”. Propaganda is information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. This is evident in the televised premature ending of the Montag’s chase and in the symbolism of 451 by the government in Ray Bradbury’s dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451. However, in our world propaganda has been used to unite a country through targeted mass persuasion. This is seen in two classic U.S propaganda posters that encourage U.S citizens to join the army: “I want you”(index 1) and “Remember Dec. 7th” (index 2).

Art is like that of a peacock’s tail, an extravagant display of beauty in an attempt to meet societal expectations. Yet, Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray questions whether art is an expendable additive to humankind or if it has become the basis for human morality. Such a consideration draws its roots in the theory of Social Darwinism, an idea proposed by Herbert Spencer. Social Darwinism asserts that society is governed by the same laws of evolution that Charles Darwin observed in animals – that is, those who flourish are justified as being naturally fit for society, while the weak are intended to perish (Britannica). Wilde utilizes artistic forms to suggest the upper class’s obsession with materialism in order to critique their disregard for moral depravity.

He was a firm believer in the idea that the entirety of Creation evolved from one single microorganism. This single cell, began duplicating to form new species by a process of trial and error. The strongest organisms would continue evolving, and the weaker would die out through a process he dubbed, “natural selection.” One of his most famous books is titled, “The Origin of Species by Natural

In the field of developmental psychology, the highly controversial debate of nature versus nurture remains one of the most convoluted of all time. The phrase "Nature Versus Nurture" originated from the English polymath, Francis Galton, who in 1869 was convinced that intellectual ability was substantially inherited and that the inclination for “genius” to run in families was the consequence of a natural superiority (Galton was actually related to Charles Darwin). The term "nature" refers to the influence of inherited characteristics while "nurture" talks about the impact of one’s environment in human development. On one hand, there is a group that believes human beings behave the way they do due to their genetic predisposition. This group is usually made up of scientists because of the biology and chemistry involved.

However the theory that had the most impact came from Charles Darwin 's theory on “natural selection” and the survival of the fittest”. He taught that if evolution had changed other species why hadn’t it done the same to the human race. This helped justified the expansion of the Great British race across the world. The other races being exterminated on the

Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book is a case in point. Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species had already made the British aware of the connection between the humans and the animal world. The British considered themselves as holding the highest point in the ladder of evolution and, for obvious reasons, considered the natives as closer to the lower animals. The association between the natives and animals served to justify the need to colonize them.

The theory of evolution by natural selection and the evidence presented by Darwin. The evolution of biological organisms describes the changes within different populations which creates variability in their phenotypes and genotypes. The fundamental basis of evolution, is that every living individual is related by a common ancestor (Strickberger,2000.). Charles Darwin, in 1859, published one of the most credible and compelling theories of evolution, in his book ‘the origin of species’ (Darwin and Beer, 2008), which best explains the theory of natural selection.

In the first paragraph of the Federalist Paper 10, Madison explains what he is trying to do with the constitution. His main concerns were to establish a government that was capable of controlling violence and damage caused by factions. He believes that as long as men have different opinions, different amounts of property and wealth, then there will always be factions. When Madison says faction, he means a group of people that have some strong common passion or interest.

Madison makes a compelling, and intelligent argument in Federalist 10. As stated previously, he builds this argument on the assumption that factions are part of human nature, and thus, cannot be controlled. This is key because most, if not all readers would agree they prefer to associate politically with like-minded people. This opens the door for Madison to further his argument by explaining how he plans to control the inevitable effects of factions. This is one of the strongest points of Madison’s argument, he simply explains how the power will be strategically divided, limiting the faction’s

If everything works by physical laws, can we someday figure our destiny as a human race? Wars, revolutions and remarkable personalities are a constant in history books. That is why, it is very important to not forget about the past, in order to plan a better future. It is proved that technology may advance, but the essential necessities of human beings remain intact: freedom, food, shelter, and education. Confucius once said, “ Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but rising every time we fall”.