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Essay Subject: Impact of Darwin's evolutionary theory of "survival of the fittest" on development of questionable business practices & Amer. politics in late 19th-Cent.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Impact of Darwin's evolutionary theory of "survival of the fittest" on development of questionable business practices & Amer. politics in late 19th-Cent. Paper Introduction: This study will discuss how Darwin's theory of natural selection was construed as a justification for questionable business practices and how it impacted American political philosophy during the latter 19th century. The impact of Darwin's evolutionary theories can hardly be overestimated with respect to the scientific community and society in general. As Hudson writes, "Within a decade after the Civil War practically every important American scientist had been converted to Darwin's theory of biological evolution, and Herbert Spencer's "social Darwinism" was equally influential. Indeed, as early as 1872, the Atlantic Monthly was able to report that within the scientific community 'natural selection, had quite won the day in Germany and England, and very nearly won it in America'" (Hudson, 1973, p. 263). Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Krout, Arnold, and Rice, John. The rise of the popularity andscientific credence of Darwin's theory of natural selection was extremelyconvenient for those capitalists, and it fit their needs perfectly. Itis clear that there was therefore a close connection between the economicsand the politics of that era, just as there is today in the United States.Accordingly, the economic power underlying the society shaped the politicalworld and the attendant political philosophy. . Politically,with politicians in the pockets of the capitalists, nothing was done on asignificant scale to prevent such abuses. Fundamental concepts of biology.New York: John Wiley & Sons. . Smith, Page. The people themselves, for the mostpart, despite the fact that they were the victims of such ruthlessness,admired such power and wealth and the progress achieved by these men. In other words, when it became clear that ruthless capitalisticpursuits resulted not only in great wealth for a few, but also in greatsuffering for the many, the powerful capitalists saw that they needed someexplanation to rationalize their behavior. As Hudson writes, "Within a decade after the Civil Warpractically every important American scientist had been converted toDarwin's theory of biological evolution, and Herbert Spencer's "socialDarwinism" was equally influential. As Smith writes, "Another important element in the ideology ofcapitalism was a residue of classical economics, the notion that an'invisible hand' somehow directs economic behavior in the best interests ofthe society as a whole, provided only that there is no heavy-handedinterference by government. New York: Macmillan. These capitalists saw the damage that such pursuit ofwealth did to the working people --- even children --- who were the realproducers of that wealth. Therefore, we see the rise of powerful capitalists as being a productof the American society of the late 19th century, and we see,simultaneously, the rise of Darwin's theory of natural selection. 466). As Krout and Rice note, many Americans accepted the theory ofevolution and its application to wealth and power and politics andeconomics. This is shown very clearly in the justificationof existing cultural features or of opinions acquired as a member of aparticular society" (Lowie, 1988, p. write that, in Darwin's theory, "Of the offspring,those individuals that are best fitted to compete will survive. As Lowie declared, a culture by its unique nature gives rise tocertain phenomena, and then uses whatever means are available torationalize that phenomena. 127-139. It thus followed logically that the richest entrepreneurs werethe fittest" (Smith, 1988, p. The "natural" result of capitalism, supportedand encouraged by a laissez faire-oriented political system and government,is great amassing of wealth among a few powerful individuals and groups.Due to the fact that such individuals and groups define reality in such asociety, it is inevitable that they will, in this capitalist society,rationalize their own actions. The owners of large corporationswere able to treat and mistreat workers of both sexes, including children,as they desired, paying them as little as they desired, and imposingwhatever miserable working conditions they wished to impose. Clearly, the capitalists amassing wealth andpower at the end of the 19th century had tremendous influence overpoliticians and over the philosophy which those politicians formulated. All commonlyrested their case on 'laws,' natural and divine. Theindividuals and groups in a society which have the power are the ones whodefine what that society is, what it should be, how it should behave, andwhy it behaves as it does. Indeed, as early as 1872, the AtlanticMonthly was able to report that within the scientific community 'naturalselection, had quite won the day in Germany and England, and very nearlywon it in America'" (Hudson, 1973, p. (1974). To the contrary, they argued thattheir pursuit of wealth and power was good not only for themselves but forall society. The American spirit. It was inevitable that there were protests against such Darwiniansocioeconomic policies and practices, such as those protests lodged by thePeople's Party Convention in 1892, which proclaimed in its platform thatthe "land (was) concentrated in the hands of the capitalists. The determinants of culture. This study will discuss how Darwin's theory of natural selection wasconstrued as a justification for questionable business practices and how itimpacted American political philosophy during the latter 19th century. Politics are, of course, also a part of that closed system. Isthere any wonder, then, that these men were able to do whatever they wantedto do, with little or no resistance from any direction, except for a fewreform-oriented groups which at that point had little effect. Culture thus appears as closed system" (Lowie, 1988, pp. (1973). Thecapitalists saw society as an element of nature, obeying the same naturallaws which Darwin saw as prevailing in the lower animal kingdom. Derived in large part from Adam Smith's Wealthof Nations, in which it was presented as an argument against the policiesof eighteenth-century mercantilism, it was combined with the more moderndoctrines of Darwinism to reinforce the contention that capitalism shouldbe free of any constraints or controls" (Smith, 1988, p. This situation resulted first in the certainty that there would be nopolitical or legal moves on the part of the government to protect theworkers who were being abused by the forces of the capitalists. ManyAmericans "seemed to believe that individual businessmen, by beingpermitted to pursue their own self-interest without external restrictions,were responsible for the great industrial progress of the nation. Fine, Sidney. In other words, for all the capitalistic claims about the survival ofthe fittest being the law by which great entrepreneurs amassed their wealthand power, that amassing actually took place, to some considerable degree,as the result of government largesse, and not purely as the result of theindividual initiative of the entrepreneurial capitalists who claimed thatthey were living proof of the Darwinian law of natural selection. Darwin had posited in his evolutionary theorizing that the animalkingdom was guided and shaped by the force for survival, and that thisforce could be fairly described by the term "survival of the fittest." Thetheory of natural selection argued that there was a drive in animals whichled the strongest to mate with the strongest. Lowie, Robert. (1991). If politicianswere not impressed with the theory and philosophy behind such beliefs, theywere impressed with the benefits accrued to them as the result of theirsupport of such theory and philosophy. Nelson, Gideon, et al. It is necessary forhuman beings to explain their actions to one another, particularly when theactions of one individual or group are detrimental in some way to anotherindividual or group. Lowie's argument is that the society will explain or explain away anyphenomena which arise from that culture: "Another tendency that is highlycharacteristic of all cultures is the rationalistic explanation of whatreason never gave rise to. (1988). . As such, the culture of a society can be seen as a living entity, orcollection of living entities, which operates in ways which will protectitself and ensure its survival. Morgan and Jay Cooke in banking --- and to excuse the sharppractices in which such men often engaged" (Krout and Rice, 1991, p. Nelson et al. As we read in Krout and Rice, "Various devices were used by largecorporations as they strove to secure dominant positions in theirparticular fields of enterprise. Morgan that the extension of American authorityabroad, either through territorial acquisitions or economic penetration,would be good for both business and democracy" (Fine, 1976, p. 116). Religion in America. To ask the government to interfere withcapitalistic enterprise and its inevitable amassing of wealth among the fewwas to ask the government to tamper with nature itself. Their response, supported by natural selection theory,was that such a situation was entirely "natural." At the same time thatDarwin's theory was used to excuse and even laud the capitalists, the sametheory was used to condemn any reformers: "As an extension of this basic(Darwinian) premise, American economic and social reformers were (accusedof) acting counter to natural selection by attempting to save the unfit,who were unable to sustain themselves in the struggle for survival" (Krout& Rice, 1991, p. 44). Heath. and the more recent Darwinian proposition that thosewho 'succeeded' were the 'fittest' in the merciless struggle for survivalthat characterized the animal and human existence" (Smith, 1984, p. 45). It was not surprising either that the capitalists quickly moved toadjust the rules of the economic and political game even more in theirfavor. The question was asked whether they shouldfeel guilty, perhaps, for having such wealth when the bulk of people werepoor and powerless. As we read in Smith, "Simply stated, the proposition wasthat, if everyone pursued his own economic interests, these would, in theaggregate, produce the highest level of general prosperity . The result was the creation of monopolies which gave ever greater andmore unfair advantage to the capitalist entrepreneurs. 137). . 44). It is simplistic to argue that capitalists used the natural selectionor "survival of the fittest" theory of Darwin to excuse anything they didin the pursuit of wealth and power. 139). New York: Harper Perennial, 1991. Anthropologist Robert Lowie offers an explanation for the use by thecapitalists of the Darwinian theory in their attempt to describe thebenefits of their pursuit and accumulation of wealth and power. As we read in Krout and Rice, "the American government pursued ahands-off policy that soon turned into a hands-outstretched one. The impact of Darwin's evolutionary theories can hardly beoverestimated with respect to the scientific community and society ingeneral. New York:McGraw-Hill.----------------------- 13 . Nature served the survivalof a species by guiding the strongest of that species to mate and issueoffspring which would be stronger than the offspring of others of thatspecies. Hill in railroads, andJohn P. Society,then, as a part of the natural world, has a life of its own, a "natural"life. 137). Lowie's anthropological theory, again, is most useful forunderstanding the rise of great capitalist wealth in the United States inthe late 19th century and the popularity of the Darwinian theory of naturalselection which was used to support that rise and the methods used to bringit about. 139). . . Manifest destiny hadproclaimed that America was fated to continue to grow and expand, and theDarwinian notion of natural selection fit well into such a political andsocial philosophy. Duringthe quarter-century following the Civil War, politicians --- whetherDemocratic or Republican --- seldom opposed the generosity of thegovernment in its support of businessmen. This help took various forms:(1) government grants of land and loans to the railroad owners; (2) hightariff rates maintained to protect American industrialists against foreigncompetition; and (3) banking and financial policies that benefittedinvestors at the expense of other elements in the nation" (Krout & Rice,1991, p. On the basis of Darwin's theory of natural selection, or the"survival of the fittest," it would hold that the more competition amongindividuals and groups the better it would be for the strongest in thesociety, and, according to the "trickledown" theory of economics, it wouldbe better as well for all members of society. Andrew Carnegie, an exponent of the Darwinian theory of naturalselection as applied to capitalism, recognized that "society paid a highprice" for such competitive ruthlessness, "but the rewards were greaterthan the costs, for it is to this law that we owe our wonderful materialdevelopment, which brings improved conditions in its train . . As Lowiewrites, "Thus, the existing culture acts doubly as a determinant of theexplanation offered for a particular cultural phenomenon. It was obvious to these capitalists that there were high costs tosuch an unbridled seeking after wealth and power, and that these costs wereprimarily human. Darwinism provided themwith the model of ruthless competition in which only the 'fittest'survived. At work in this process was the fundamental set of beliefs held byAmericans with respect to their destiny as a nation. The American past.. In High Pointsin Anthropology, edited by Paul Bohannan and Mark Glazer. Becausethe selection of the individuals that are to survive is made by theenvironment, Darwin called this natural selection" (Nelson et al., 1974, p.32 ). a hireling standingarmy, unrecognized by our laws, is established to shoot them down . . The tremendous power of the capitalists at the end of the 19thcentury, accrued in part due to the popular and political acceptance ofDarwin's law of natural selection, resulted in widespread and profoundhuman and social abuses. (1973). New York: McGraw-Hill, pp. References Bailey, Thomas. In fact, however, the greatentrepreneurs of the late 19th century did everything they could to stiflesuch competition, which, it would seem, they would welcome as a means oftesting Darwin's theory and as a means of bettering society through theadvances made as-a result of some wholesale competition. 45). While thelaw may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race,because it insures the survival of the fittest in every department" (Smith,1984, p. Theywere inclined to admire the more prominent leaders of business---John D.Rockefeller and Stephen V. If the power of the few was the result of natural processes, thenthere was little or nothing that government could or should do to reverseor even tamper with that process. Politics is an expression ofviews on the way the government should operate, and in the context of theDarwinian theory of natural selection as applied to capitalism, thepolitical philosophy of that era proclaimed a laissez faire government. In brief,then, the ideology of capitalism rested on the notion of the sanctity ofprivate property . Such great and powerful men were admired not only for their ownwealth but because of the impact they had on the society as a whole. 135). New York: CharlesScribner's Sons. Reviewing the situation, then, we find a small group of powerful menwho amassed great wealth and power by ruthless means in a capitalisticsystem which was buttressed by Darwinian theory. Hudson, Winthrop. Harkness in oil, Andrew Carnegie and Elbert H.Gary in steel, Cornelius Vanderbilt and James J. We see, then, that the powerful entrepreneurs of the United States inthe late 19th century were calling the shots in the country ---economically, politically and socially --- and that Darwin's theory ofnatural selection served well the rationalization for the power and abusesof power of those wealthy and mighty few. The rise of industrial America. It is misleading and simplistic, once again, to claimthat only bloodthirsty monsters held to these theories, for as both Smithand Fine note, the ideology of capitalism, buttressed by Darwin's ideas,was cherished by all sorts of leaders on every level of economic andpolitical and social power in this country in the late 19th century. 263). Thefruits of the toil of millions are boldly stolen to build up colossalfortunes for a few, unprecedented in the history of mankind; and thepossessors of these, in turn, despise the republic and endanger liberty.From the same prolific womb of governmental injustice we breed the twogreat classes of tramps and millionaires" (Smith, 1988, p. Businessmen argued that unrestrainedcompetition had become so intense that they had been compelled to correctthe 'evils of competition' by mergers and consolidations" (Krout & Rice,1991, p. However, human society include one elementnot present in the lower animal kingdom --- reason. As a palliative, the capitalist entrepreneursamassing tremendous amounts of wealth and power claimed that in the longrun their wealth would be used to better society as a whole. In the same context, Smith writes, "The ideologists of capitalismincluded clergymen as well as tycoons and corporate lawyers. . The urbanworkmen are denied the right of organization . 137-138). Lexington,Massachusetts: D.C. We find the politiciansof the government going along with such ruthlessness due to personal andpolitical gain, as they were the recipients of much benefit from thosewealthy and powerful capitalists. United States history from1865. (1973). Fine writes, "Idealists such as Woodrow Wilson could agree withmaterialists like J.P. Forexample, as the proclamation of the People's Party Convention declared,there was a deliberate government-supported, and police-supported whennecessary, effort to prevent the formation of unions which would countersome of the power of the capitalists. (1984). It evokes thesearch for its own raison d'etre; and the type of interpretation calledforth conforms to the explanatory pattern characteristic of the cultureinvolved. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.