Charles Darwin's Influence On Morality

Morality is a very subjective topic, one person’s morals may differ greatly from another. Philosophers such as Darwin and Marx took it upon themselves to make a hypothesis as to what primarily influences a person’s morality. Darwin states that the greatest influence on human morality is survival; whereas, Marx believes that the ruling class is what manipulates our morality; however, Darwin's philosophy is more accurate due the increased amount of evidence he has compared to Marx. Darwin was a firm believer in evolution and natural selection, and he wrote many works which provided evidence of his hypothesis. His main point was that as a species, including humans, continues to evolve, natural selection chooses the best traits to be inherited to the next generation. However, natural selection does not only affect physical traits but, “applies no less to intellectual and moral powers than to physical traits.” (Darwin 64)

Darwin's philosophy goes as far as to explain the origin of morality. Today, natural selection and the theory of evolution is widely accepted. It is understood that all species, included our own, has benefited from the fine tuning of our traits by means of natural selection. Since humans are descended from animals, who seem to have little to no moral scale, morals were not created before natural selection. Rather, what eventually separated us from our animal ancestors was our development of intellect and morality. These two traits improved the human species’ ability to adapt and survive. As we progressed as a species, we created religion and schools to further improve this trait. Karl Marx’s explanation isn't incorrect by any means, but Darwin’s philosophy is harder to disprove and more accurate. There is years upon years of evidence that proves Darwin’s point which Marx doesn’t