Darwinism

Charles Darwin in 1880, 71 years old (two before his death). The impact of the theory of evolution by natural selection appeared in 1859 with the publication of The Origin of Species was already a reality that revolutionized many fields of science.

Darwinism is a term used to describe the ideas of Charles Darwin, especially in relation to biological evolution by natural selection.

Darwinism is not synonymous with evolutionism, since the latter predates Charles Darwin: Darwinian theories are evolutionary, but their key contribution is the concept of natural selection considered decisive in explaining the cause of evolution and which in its subsequent development, with numerous contributions and corrections, will allow the formulation of the current theory of evolution or modern evolutionary synthesis. Therefore it is equally wrong to use the term "Darwinism" to refer to the current theory of evolution, since it is not reduced only to the ideas postulated by Charles Darwin.

History of Darwinism

T. H. Huxley, the most important polemist for Darwinism during the Victorian Era.

For the evolutionary biologist Ernst Mayr, the term "Darwinism" has had at least nine uses throughout history and since 1859 (the year Darwin's work The Origin of Species was published) different. At first Darwinism just meant anti-creationism. If someone explained evolutionary change by resorting to natural causes and not divine, he was labeled a "Darwinist" (for example, Thomas Henry Huxley and Charles Lyell).

The use of the term will vary according to the various theories and subtheories that contained the postulates which were little by little being accepted, to later be qualified, corrected and completed until the formulation, in the decade from 1940 to 1950, of the synthesis modern evolutionary. Since then it can be said that the Darwinian paradigm resists against the attacks suffered and reductionism, its basic formulation is valid and it seems that it can last: evolution is the result of genetic variation and its ordering through elimination and selection.

Basics of Darwinism

Infographic that summarizes the history of evolutionary thought.

Darwin's evolutionary views constitute a complex theoretical system, a set of related theories, rather than a singular theory. The nucleus of these conceptions continues to preserve all its validity, despite its natural insufficiency and some significant error, especially in its explanation of inheritance through pangenesis. In Darwinism there are three theoretical axes that explain different aspects of biological reality.

• Transformism, which is the notion that species change their characteristics over time in a fundamentally gradual way. What now designates the term evolutionism was pointed out for a long time, until well into the 20th century, as transformism.
• The notion that species are diversified, by adaptation to differentiated environments or lifestyles, branching; the other aspect of the same phenomenon is that all species are related, although in different degrees, and ultimately all species have their common origin in a remote, unique common ancestor. From this conviction is that it is obligated to try to classify the species by their kinship (phyrogenia), a criterion that must pass over any other. Darwin distrusted that this ideal was achievable, although the recent development of phylogenetic analysis is approaching it.
• The adaptation to the environment that motivates evolutionary change, as previously proposed by other authors, such as Lamarck, should have its mechanism in natural selection, conceived as a result of two factors. These are, on the one hand, the natural hereditary variability of individuals of a species and, on the other, the differential rate of reproductive success, also dependent on the survival rate, among the different genetic variants present in the population.

The materialism implicit in Darwin's theory

The theory proposed by Darwin of the evolution of species through the natural selection of genetic variations implies a vision of living beings that can be classified as materialistic. The human being does not occupy any privileged place within the living world. The final causes do not find accommodation in the Darwinian mechanism. There is no place in evolutionary theory for the emergence of a "mind" in the dualistic sense, since the generation and evolution of nervous systems are strictly biological and therefore physical processes.

Influences on the formulation of Darwin's theories

Darwin's formulations of his theories were influenced to a large degree by language learned from sociologists or publicists (political scientists), such as Thomas Malthus and Herbert Spencer. As Alfred Russel Wallace himself recognized, reading Malthus was decisive for the formulation of the theory of natural selection. Malthusian ideas were known and discussed in the intellectual circles of the time. Concepts such as competition, struggle for life and overpopulation, which appear in An Essay on the Principle of Population by Thomas Malthus, served both Alfred Russel Wallace and Darwin to shape his theories.

Social Darwinism

At the height of the theory of natural selection proposed by Charles Darwin, and after the initial controversies, the concept of natural selection and interspecific relationships were transferred to social relationships; however, there is no clear method of applying one to the other and, thus, under the pejorative term of "social Darwinism" ideologies have been described, often conflicting, that could defend laissez faire as well as state socialism, imperialism or eugenics on a local scale. Many of these trends have little to do with the ideas of Darwin who, indeed, advocated voluntary eugenics in his book "The Heredity of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex"; but not by imposition.

Basic bibliography on Darwinism

• Dennett, Daniel Clement (2000). Darwin's dangerous idea: evolution and meanings of life. Barcelona: Reading Circle - Gutenberg Galaxy. ISBN 978-84-226-8036-9.
• Dupré, John (2006). [Preview incomplete in Google Books Darwin's Legacy: What Does Evolution Mean Today]. Buenos Aires: Katz. ISBN 84-609-8391-9.
• Glick, Thomas F. (1988). The Comparative Reception of Darwinism (in English). University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226299778.
• Glick, Thomas F. (2010). What about Darwin?: All Species of Opinion from Scientists, Sages, Friends, and Enemies Who Met, Read, and Discussed the Naturalist Who Changed the World (in English). JHU Press. ISBN 9780801897528.
• Gould, Stephen Jay (1983). From Darwin: Reflections on Natural History. Hermann Blume. pp. 313 ISBN 9788472142787.
• Mayr, Ernst (2004). A long controversy: Darwin and Darwinism. Criticism. pp. 216 pp. ISBN 9788484322542.
• Mayr, Ernst (2006). [Incomplete view on Google Books Why biology is unique: considerations on the autonomy of a scientific discipline]. José María Lebrón (trad.). Katz. ISBN 9788460983569.
• Orgel, Leslie E. (2007). The origins of life: molecules and natural selection. Emilio López Thome (trad.). (3.a ed. edition). Alliance. pp. 214 pp. ISBN 9788420621388.
• Ruse, Michael (1983). The Darwinist Revolution. Carlos Castrodeza (trad.). Alliance. ISBN 978-84-206-2372-6.
• Rachels, James (1990). Created from animals: The moral implications of DarwinismOxford University Press. ISBN: 978-0192861290.
• Ruse, Michael (2007). Can a Darwinist be Christian?: the relationship between Science and Religion. Eulalia Pérez Sedeño, Eduardo Bustos (trads.). Madrid, Spain: 21st Century. pp. 293 pp. ISBN 9788432312830.
• Sampedro, Javier (2007). Deconstructing Darwin: the riddles of evolution in the light of the new genetics (1.a ed. edition). Editorial Crítica. pp. 575 p. ISBN 978-8432-910-7.