?Louis Schmier wrote: > Chris, good morning. Spencer wrote his *_Principles of Biology _*in > 1867, (Darwin's *_Origin of Specie_* was published in 1859) in which > he first coined the phrase "survival of the fittest," AFTER reading > Darwin, although he relied heavily on Lamarck, and became known > as the "father of Social Darwinism."
Chris Green replied: >Spencer's Principles of Psychology was first published in 1855… [i.e., before *On the Origin of Species* (1859)] According to Joseph Carroll, Spencer's first book *Social Statics* (1851) "is an exercise in integrating Lamarckian teleological progressivism, utilitarian ethical theory, and an extreme form of libertarian individualism associated with laissez faire economics… As the date of publication for *Social Statics* makes clear… [Spencer's] ideology was in no way influenced by Darwin's own work." (Introduction, *On the Origin of Species*, ed. J. Carroll, Broadview Texts, 2003, pp. 31-32.) Paul Brandon wrote: >Darwin himself relied on Lamarck for a mechanism underlying >natural selection, since he wasn't aware of Mendel's work. On the contrary, the theory of natural selection was in *opposition* to Lamarck's theory of the inheritance of acquired characteristics. In a letter to Joseph Hooker in 1844 Darwin wrote that "the conclusions I am led to are not widely different from his [Lamarck's]; though the means are wholly so." More generally, Lamarck's evolutionary theory was teleological (i.e., purposive), whereas natural selection is non-teleological. My understanding is that in later editions of *On the Origin of Species* Darwin allowed a very limited role for Lamarckian mechanisms because he had problems with inheritance, and with the estimations of the age of the earth at that time. Allen Esterson Former lecturer, Science Department Southwark College, London allenester...@compuserve.com http://www.esterson.org ------------------------------------------------- Re: [tips] What A Day: Mystery, Redemption, Astrology, Astronomy, History, and Tragedy Christopher D. Green Mon, 05 Apr 2010 07:24:16 -0700 Spencer's Principles of Psychology was first published in 1855. He was "Lamarckian" then (to misuse the term as it is so often misused, to denote the Laws of Use and Disuse). But more importantly, he was one of the "cosmic" evolutionists, like the author of _Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation_ (who turned out to be Robert Chambers), as well as Erasmus Darwin and Lamarck himself, a half century earlier. The basic idea was that the cosmis itself had a general progressive force that drove the evolution not only life forms for of the planets, stars, and, ultimately, morality. Chris Green York U Toronto ============== Louis Schmier wrote: > > Chris, good morning. Spencer wrote his *_Principles of Biology _*in > 1867, (Darwin's *_Origin of Specie_* was published in 1859) in which > he first coined the phrase "survival of the fittest," AFTER reading > Darwin, although he relied heavily on Lamarck, and became known as the > "father of Social Darwinism." These two, Darwin and Spencer, were > later misrepresented in the U.S. to legitimize free enterprise and > free competition, might makes right, and survival of the fittest by > the "robber barons," perverting a combination of American > individualism, Smith, and Spencer (ignored Smith's *_The Theory of > Moral Sentiments_*). Then, the late 19^th century nationalists > extended a combination of Darwin, Spencer, Smith, and the Comte de > Gobineau's _Essay on the Inequality of Human Races_ to the survival of > the individual nation, turning "nation" into a biological racial term. > > Make it a good day. > > --Louis-- > > > Louis Schmier > http://www.therandomthoughts.com > Department of History > http://www.therandomthoughts.edublogs.org > Valdosta State University > Valdosta, Georgia 31698 /\ /\ /\ /\ > (229-333-5947) Re: [tips] What A Day: Mystery, Redemption, Astrology, Astronomy, History, and Tragedy Paul Brandon Mon, 05 Apr 2010 07:18:07 -0700 Note: Darwin himself relied on Lamarck for a mechanism underlying natural selection, since he wasn't aware of Mendel's work. On Apr 5, 2010, at 3:44 AM, Louis Schmier wrote: > Chris, good morning. Spencer wrote his Principles of Biology in > 1867, (Darwin’s Origin of Specie was published in 1859) in which he > first coined the phrase “survival of the fittest,” AFTER reading > Darwin, although he relied heavily on Lamarck, and became known as > the “father of Social Darwinism.” These two, Darwin and Spencer, > were later misrepresented in the U.S. to legitimize free enterprise > and free competition, might makes right, and survival of the > fittest by the “robber barons,” perverting a combination of > American individualism, Smith, and Spencer (ignored Smith’s The > Theory of Moral Sentiments). Then, the late 19th century > nationalists extended a combination of Darwin, Spencer, Smith, and > the Comte de Gobineau’s Essay on the Inequality of Human Races to > the survival of the individual nation, turning “nation” into a > biological racial term. > From: Christopher D. Green [mailto:chri...@yorku.ca] > Sent: Sunday, April 04, 2010 10:14 PM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) > Subject: Re: [tips] What A Day: Mystery, Redemption, Astrology, > Astronomy, History, and Tragedy > > Louis Schmier wrote: > The Nazi T-4 plan was an application by “men of science,” however > perverted, of Herbert Spencer’s social Darwinism, which, in turn, > twisted Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. > > Just for the record, Spencer was a published evolutionist BEFORE > Darwin was. After Darwin published, he adopted natural selection as > one evolutionary mechanism, among others. Paul Brandon Emeritus Professor of Psychology Minnesota State University, Mankato paul.bran...@mnsu.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=1782 or send a blank email to leave-1782-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
