Impact of Darwinism on American Thought - Essay Example

? Impact of Darwinism on American Thought al Affiliation Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution has led to many changes in the lives of Americans, beginning in the late nineteenth century and spilling over to the contemporary society. Darwinism, as the phenomenon surrounding the theory is commonly referred to as, holds that humanity evolved from a less complex and lower level species and gradually, through forces of nature and evolution became what is today the modern day man; scientifically referred to as Homo sapiens. Through his 1859 book ‘The Origin of Species’, Charles Darwin instigated a change in the world views about the origin of humankind among other species, which challenged previously existing theories such as Creationism. With this new perspective, evolution began to affect the overall system of American thought. Some of the aspects of American thought include American philosophy, technology usage in the American society, religion, medicine, politics, environment, culture and globalization in the American context. This paper delves into the impact of Darwinism on some of these aspects of American thought in the nineteenth century. The paper also looks into the changes that took place with regard to each aspect and that saw some subjects gain more popularity and others decline. Keywords: Evolution, Changes, Philosophy, Darwinism, American Thought Introduction Evolution refers to the process of a string of natural modifications that a species of a population of organisms undergoes, which causes the species to develop, adjust to their surroundings, and eventually die out or become extinct (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, n.d.). All species including humans have developed through the process of biological evolution. Human evolution refers to the drawn-out progression of change which facilitated the development of people from apelike progenitors. Scientific evidence has revealed that the physical and developmental attributes shared by the entire human species originated from apelike predecessors and evolved over a period of time (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, n.d.). The theory of evolution has been subject to intensive scientific research over the last 150 years. There is numerous and convincing evidence that living organisms have undergone the process of evolution spanning over a period of millions of years. According to Andrews and Stringer the account of human evolution dates back to approximately 30 million years ago in North Africa, when the now expansive Sahara desert was an expanse of lush rain forests and the region was inhabited by a species identified by historians as Aegyptopithecus (1989). This theory was developed by Charles Darwin and is detailed in his 1859 book ‘Origin of Species’. Following its development, the theory was adapted and accepted in many societies despite the fact that it faced acclamation and criticism in equal measure. In the American society as with many others in the world over, world views based on the origin of mankind as well as the development of world and human civilizations began to be shaped by the theory. In retrospect, Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution resulted in changes in many aspects of American thought in the nineteenth century. Multiple fields of science, research and education have been influenced by Darwinism. Some of these aspects are discussed below. Impact of Darwinism on Philosophy The realization of the theory of natural selection that is a component of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution resulted in changes in American philosophy in the nineteenth century. Philosophy is applied and put into practice by humans in their development of world views and perspectives. Philosophy is developed within the human mind. The theory of natural selection to a great extent includes the development of humankind and the human brain; making them both results of natural selection. As a result therefore, Darwinism directly impacts on philosophy (Lemmens, 2006). The theory of human evolution as developed by Charles Darwin is thought to have created a fundamental shift in philosophy beginning in the late nineteenth century; from the nature of being conventional and self perceptive to relinquishing its certainties that have been valued and respected since time immemorial, with most of its initial assertions being mitigated (Lemmens, 2006). According to Dickson, the theory of evolution impacted the accepted wisdom in many of the world’s societies and governments and as a result it is deemed to have influenced philosophy negatively. This is attributed to the fact that Darwinism is built on ‘anti-theism’ with principles such as secularism, materialism, pragmatism, scepticism, atheism, naturalism and agnosticism (n.d.). Dickson argues that when human philosophy no longer involves being accountable to a supreme virtue, the objective moral standards in a society are eroded. By portraying life as a struggle that involves survival only for the fittest members of society, the theory of evolution nothing is left to hold back the carnage that human beings commit towards each other in a bid to survive (Dickson, n.d.). Impact of Darwinism on Religion The theory of evolution resulted in a conflict between the theory and religion with it being viewed in many circles as a conflict between Darwin and God (Dixon, 2009). The theory of evolution has long been the subject of argument between scientists who subscribe to the theory and atheism; and fundamentalists who subscribe to various religions. These conflicts have turned out to be an embodiment of the conflict between science and religion (Dixon, 2009). This conflict was fuelled by the fact that, religious fundamentalists attributed the origin of life and human kind to supernatural beings in what is termed as the theory of creationism. In the American society, the initial reaction towards Darwin’s theory among religious groups was that of shock and lack of acceptance. Towards the end of the nineteenth century however, most religious believers appeared to have accepted and confronted the theory (Dixon, 2009). However, the American population continued to reject the truth behind the theory opting instead to stick to the theories allied to Creationism. This can be attributed to the immigration of Europeans into America at the time as well as the influence of culture and politics on American thought. Impact of Darwinism on Technology According to Merritt, the theory of evolution as propagated by Darwin resulted in the development of numerous technologies in the American society. First is the development of Genetic algorithms that work in the same way as Darwin’s concept of natural evolution. (2009) These models have been developed over years by scientists to simulate the concept of evolution on computers in order to provide better insight into the theory. Second is the development of video games (Merritt, 2009). One of the first games involving programming was actually called Darwin. This is probably because winning programs could replicate themselves onto empty memory slots, perhaps mimicking the survival for the fittest aspect of Darwinism. Other fields in technology that have been promoted by the Darwinian theory of evolution include robotics, engineering and manufacturing and aerospace (Merritt, 2009). Impact of Darwinism on Medicine With regards to modern medicine, Darwinism seemingly removed the requirement for a God (Grantham, n.d). Previously in the American society, there was a link between medicine and spirituality. However, Darwinism created a gap between the two elements. What followed was the creation of an abyss between modern medicine and science; and other aspects of human life. Science and technology was now geared towards the preservation of human life and ethics in modern medicine by the practices that displaced care and compassion towards patients (Grantham, n.d). Impact of Darwinism on Politics While the theory of evolution is misinterpreted to depict nature as harsh and driven purely by competition, the theory in fact encourages collaboration (Walmswell, 2009). By caring for weaker members of the species, early human species enhance the evolution of the entire population. The implication of this on American politics is that it supported cooperation between the left wing and the right wing in political circles. With evolution of human thinking, free will liberated humankind for the confines of evolution. As a result there no longer lay a requisite to rely on Darwinism for political advantage (Walmswell, 2009). The best political policies were found to be those that were based on rationality and factual evidence. An example in American politics is the policy of democracy where policies formed may be beneficial to the public on a long term basis but detrimental on a short term basis and they are therefore seen to promote what in Darwin’s theory of evolution can be referred to extinction in the political sense (Walmswell, 2009). On the other hand, policies formed by the government in the light of protecting American citizens jobs or the prosperity of America as a country may be viewed as promoting the thriving of the population, hence endorsing the survival of the political class; analogous to Darwinism (Walmswell, 2009). Conclusion As stated earlier, the theory of evolution was developed by Charles Darwin and it was detailed in his 1859 book ‘Origin of Species’. Its development resulted in the theory being adapted and accepted in many societies despite the fact that it faced acclamation and criticism in equal measure and the American society was no exception. The result of this acceptance was modifications into the American thought principles with some of the most affected aspects of American thought being American philosophy, technology, religion, medicine, and politics as discussed above. These modifications impacted positively on some discipline and negatively on others. In religion, Darwinism resulted in conflict while in politics it emphasized collaboration. In technology it promoted milestone developments while in philosophy it resulted in a negative shift. Lastly in medicine, Darwinism removed the human aspect of modern medicine replacing it with science and technology. Reference List Andrews, P. J., & Stringer, C. B. (1989). Human Evolution: An Illustrated Guide. London, UK: British Museum (Natural History). Dickson, R. (n.d.) The Impact of Evolutionary Philosophy on Society. Retrieved from http://www.apologeticspress.org/rr/reprints/Impact-of-Evolutionary-Philosop.pdf Dixon, T. (2009, February). Darwin and religion in America: America’s difficulty with Darwin. Retrieved from http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/darwin-and-religion-in-america Grantham, J., L. (n.d.). The Effect of Darwinism on Modern Medicine. Retrieved from http://markmoore.org/resources/qanda/grantham.pdf Lemmens, P. (2006, February 7). Darwinism and Philosophy [ Review of the book Darwinism and Philosophy]. University of Notre Dame. Retrieved from http://ndpr.nd.edu/news/24959-darwinism-philosophy/ Merritt, N. (2009, February 5). 5 ways Charles Darwin influenced Tech: 200 years on, Darwin's Legacy is in the Tech we use Daily. Retrieved from http://www.techradar.com/news/world-of-tech/5-ways-charles-darwin-influenced-tech-525474 Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. (n.d.). Introduction to human evolution. In Human Origins. Retrieved from: http://humanorigins.si.edu/resources/intro-human-evolution Walmswell, J. (2009). Darwin and Politics. In Charles Darwin and Evolution 1809-2009. Retrieved from http://darwin200.christs.cam.ac.uk/pages/index.php?page_id=e4 Read More