Determinist theories and politics : the example of social Darwinism

Abstract

My thesis is that in modern societies where the degree of mass participation in politics is greater than ever before and where the level of popular education is correspondingly higher, determinist theories have acquired considerable importance, both for the publicist and for the social scientist, as one means of justifying public policy. This essay is primarily an examination of the nature and function of one such determinant theory, namely, Social Darwinism, and secondarily an attempt to indicate some of the ways in which that theory was used as a justification of their political proposals by certain European and American writers in the half century after the publication of Darwin’s Origin of Species. This thesis is set out more fully in the Introduction. Part I deals with the general features of determinist theory. Chapter I deals with the philosophical characteristics of determinism which distinguish it from other theory, emphasizing especially the "scientism" of determinist theory, its claim to state the inevitable, and its unfalsifiability. Chapter 2 discusses the connexions between the ideas of progress, determinism and evolution. Part I ends with a discussion of the main principles of the philosophy of Herbert Spencer, in whom these three ideas strikingly coalesced to produce an outstanding system of monistic determinism. Part II is an attempt to show how Darwin’s Origin of Species, by providing a scientific foundation for evolutionary theory in biology, became also the focus for a large body of social theory which claimed scientific respectability by seeking to base social explanations upon the same principles of struggle, selection an survival as Darwin had advanced to explain the development of biological species. Chapter 4 is a short account of the intellectual antecedents, the main principles and the impact of The Origin of Species, (The last of these points is developed a little in Appendix A) Chapter 5 deals with the emergence of Social Darwinism as a general political philosophy, attempting to bring out the distinctive features of this philosophy, of which, as with some other philosophies, there seems to be no definitive contemporary exposition. In Chapter 6, some of the critics are discussed with a view to illustrating the strength of the Social Darwinian movement by showing that many of its opponent them selves shared its preconceptions. Part III carries forward the theme of Part II, The work of a small number of writers who advanced proposals for outstanding system of monistic determinism. Part II is an attempt to show how Darwin’s Origin of Species, by providing a scientific foundation for evolutionary theory in biology, became also the focus for a large body of social theory which claimed scientific respectability by seeking to base social explanations upon the same principles of struggle, selection and survival as Darwin had advanced to explain the development of biological species. Chapter 4 is a short account of the intellectual antecedents, the main principles and the impact of The Origin of Species, (The last of these points is developed a little in Appendix A) Chapter 5 deals with the emergence of Social Darwinism as a general political philosophy, attempting to bring out the distinctive features of this philosophy, of which, as with some other philosophies, there seems to be no definitive contemporary exposition. In Chapter 6, some of the critics are discussed with a view to illustrating the strength of the Social Darwinian movement by showing that many of its opponent themselves shared its preconceptions. Part III carries forward the theme of Part II , The work of a small number of writers who advanced proposals for public policy, both domestic and foreign, is examined with the aim of showing how Social Darwinian arguments, were used as part of the justification for these proposals. Chapters 7, 8, and 9 are concerned with the relationship between Social Darwinism and, respectively, doctrines of laissez-faire, theories of racial conflict, and arguments for war. The Conclusion is an attempt to bring together the main contentions of the thesis .