For much of the 19th and 20th centuries, the society we lived in was heavily dictated by the theory of a philosopher named Herbert Spencer. With the onset of the Industrial Revolution in 18th century Europe, the economy changed dramatically from one based primarily on agriculture to one dependent on industries and manufacturing. People began to abandon their old lifestyle to start a new life in the city. The migration of millions of people to the city has led to major social problems such as poverty, malnutrition, disease and crime. The distinction between lower class and upper class became pronounced. Many of history's greatest thinkers began to wonder why problems like poverty exist. During the Enlightenment, philosophers such as Herbert Spencer used science and reason to offer ideas and solutions to the various social issues that arose during that time. For example, issues such as social class, race and discrimination.[1] Therefore, Herbert Spencer proposed a theory based on Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection, called Social Darwinism.[2] The process of applying theory to the evolution of human society has almost destroyed humanity. Social Darwinism misinterpreted the sociological evolution of human beings to justify the differences between the inferiors and superiors in society, in which it inspired movements aimed at ostensibly advancing the human race such as the application of eugenics, sterilization, and racial propaganda Nazi. to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay To begin, Social Darwinism is based on the theory of natural selection assembled by Charles Darwin. In 1859, Charles Darwin published the book On the Origins of Species, in which he discussed the evolution of plants and animals as a result of competition for survival. Darwin proposed that the cause of a change in an organism's anatomy and behavior was the result of an adaptation that led the organism to have a selective advantage, thus increasing its chances of survival. Although heredity is generally the cause of species continuity in selected genes, there are also mutations that occur during sexual reproduction that can provide an advantage to the species in a particular environment. If the specific mutation allows for a selective advantage, their offspring will inherit the specific mutated gene and, as a result, improve their ability to survive and reproduce. Darwin argued that, over time, the process of natural selection would allow the appearance of new species and the elimination of others.[3] Inspired by the work of Thomas Malthus, Darwin concluded that through this process, organisms were constantly competing for resources, so those with the least advantage would most likely win “the struggle for survival.” Thomas Malthus is an early 19th century British philosopher. In his book An Essay on the Principles of Populations, Malthus proposed that organisms will produce far more offspring than the environment can support. The lack of resources for an organism's survival in an environment meant that there would be a constant struggle for survival among members of a population for resources such as food. Malthus wrote: “in nature, plants and animals produce many more offspring than can survive, and man is also capable of overproducing if left uncontrolled.” Similar to animals, Malthus concluded that if the human population was not properly regulated, people would survivein misery due to a famine that would spread an epidemic and eventually kill the human race. Darwin applied Malthus' theory to deduce that better adapted organisms in a population are more likely to obtain resources to survive and reproduce offspring to pass on those desirable traits to the next generation. On the contrary, those individuals who are poorly adapted to their environment will not obtain resources for survival, therefore, they cannot survive and reproduce, and this would eventually lead to the elimination of those species.[4] Furthermore, during the century in which Darwin published his book on the theory of natural selection, many philosophers began to adopt their own theories on the evolution of the human race based on Darwin's theory of natural selection; what historians would call “the eclipse of Darwinism”.[5] Herbert Spencer was a famous English philosopher, known for his interpretation of Darwinism. Social Darwinism is the application of the theory of natural selection to the human population. However, Social Darwinism refers not only to the physical sense of human evolution but also to the psychological characteristics that play a fundamental role in social interactions. Humans are cultural and social beings, therefore, when discussing the nature of human beings, Social Darwinism refers to aspects of human sociology and psychology. Social Darwinism is the view that religion, ethics, politics, culture, human behavior, and civilization can be explained through the laws of natural selection. Furthermore, Spencer states that society must place emphasis on skills, intellect and technological innovations to stimulate human progress.[6] To be clear, Social Darwinism is not factual. It is simply a hypothesis or theory about the nature of human beings that influenced society's views throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Spencer's work was extremely popular because it suited the American scene and reassured the progress of the human race. Social Darwinism met the needs of the time; a time when everything was defined by philosophical thought and science. In 1864, the Atlantic Monthly commented: “Mr. Herbert Spencer is already a power in the world... He has already influenced the silent lives of some thinking men whose faith marks the point at which the civilization of the age must struggle to rise. Mr. Spencer has already established principles which, though forced for a time to compromise with prejudices and vested interests, will become the recognized basis of an improved society”.[7] As a result, every philosophical thinker of the time was influenced by Spencer's ideologies. Spencer believed that if mental and physical attributes could be inherited, then collectively the human race could become superior if individuals in the population inherited only the desired alleles. Thus, the analogy of the phrase “struggle for survival” to human nature became the justification for vice in the Golden Age.[8] Subsequently, Social Darwinism dangerously rebuked creationism and the existence of God, causing extreme controversy with creationists. The biblical accounts of creation in the book of Genesis provided the only foundation for understanding human creation before Darwin composed his theory.[9] The Genesis story explains that God created the earth in six days and rested on the seventh day. As for humans, the creation story in Genesis states that God created all humans equal and unique in His image and likeness. Christians of the time interpreted the text as divinely written by God, hence all accounts in the Biblewere believed to be true. Christians who interpret the Bible literally argue that Darwinism goes against the concept that God created the earth. Darwinism established a new approach to explaining the laws of nature, exploiting the concept of creation.[10] For the theory of natural selection to occur, God must be superfluous in the process. Darwin supported his analogy by stating that creationism is false. Instead, Darwin suggested that all life forms are not fixed, but rather are continually evolving to best adapt to their environment. The theory of natural selection states that "evolutionary change occurs through the abundant production of genetic variation in each generation. The relatively few individuals who survive, thanks to a well-developed combination of hereditary characteristics, give rise to the next generation.”[ 11] Thus, according to Darwinists, the notion of a divine creator is a myth. Darwinism became very problematic, as many controversies emerged between the two distinct ideas. To support his thought, Darwin wrote: “when two races of men meet , they behave exactly like two species of animals: they fight, they eat each other, they cause diseases, etc., but then comes the most deadly struggle, that is, which one has the most suitable organizations or instincts to win the situation"[ 12] Darwin states that humans are similar to animals in the way humans act towards each other when it comes to life and death situations. By removing God from human life, Darwin reduced humanity to the level of an animal. Humanity was suddenly defined by the laws of nature. The laws and teachings of the Bible, such as the Ten Commandments, were ignored. Alternatively, competition and “survival of the fittest” for those organisms whose genetic mutations produced the most successful adaptations became what defined the differences in human life. Even in the case of human social structures, in which one might think that they occurred as a result of a plan intended by God, everything has been unreasonably justified through the principles of Darwinism. For example, in the Age of Enlightenment, intelligent thinkers theorized that a higher class group was more superior because they had been further developed in their lineage descent, while those considered lower class had not yet developed their lineage. In contrast, creationists would argue that the poor existed to pressure people to do good and help the less fortunate, according to God's will. Social Darwinism encourages society to go against human virtues and man's innate moral values . Darwin writes: The help which we feel obliged to render to the helpless is chiefly an accidental result of the instinct of sympathy, originally acquired as part of the social instincts, but subsequently made, in the manner before indicated, softer and more sensitive. widely spread... The surgeon may harden himself while performing an operation, because he knows that he is acting for the good of his patient; but if we were to willfully neglect the weak and defenseless, it may only be for contingent benefit, with overwhelming present evil. We must therefore bear the undoubtedly negative effects of the survival of the weak and the propagation of their species... even if this is more hoped for than expected.[13] Because of Social Darwinism, many philosophers encouraged the practice of Social Darwinism, unethically, because they believed it was for the long-term benefit of human beings. As a result of the absence of God in everyday morality replacing social Darwinism,several catastrophic events have occurred throughout history. As a result of the widespread popularity of Social Darwinism in the early 20th century, a nationwide eugenics movement occurred to attempt to eliminate Social Darwinism. “defective” types in society in order to advance the human race. The cause of these movements had a direct relationship to Social Darwinism. In 1883, inspired by Social Darwinism, Francis Galton proposed the science of eugenics. Eugenics is the scientific study of the possibility of improving the standards of the human species by discouraging the reproduction of those individuals classified as having undesirable characteristics - negative eugenics - and at the same time encouraging those with desirable characteristics to reproduce - positive eugenics. Galton understood eugenics as the rational planning of the human species, based on his understanding of the mechanisms of heredity. In 1904, Galton wrote that eugenics is "the study of agencies under social control which can enhance or impair the racial qualities of future generations, both physically and mentally." behaviors caused by inherited mental abilities. Over two thousand individuals related to the Jukes family lineage were “feeble-minded.” The psychologist Enrico. H Goddard stated that Juke's family did not become "feeble-minded" due to the impact of environmental conditions on their behavior, but rather due to an inheritance of that attribute.[15] Therefore, eugenicists assumed that low intelligence was hereditary, and collectively, breeding these people would weaken the human race. A revised study implemented the laws of eugenics to eliminate the “feeble-minded” from the family lineage. The next generation of the Juke family exhibited normal behavior.[16] Consequently, based on the study conducted on Juke's family, philosophical thinkers who supported eugenics believed that by applying eugenics to a more complex and larger society, a more advanced master race would be created. The first task faced by eugenicists was to determine who should do so. do not reproduce. Galton proposed that to create an ideal society, laws must be put in place to manage the fertility rates of those known to carry diseases or unwanted genes. In 1884, an experiment in Oneida, New York, attempted to create an ideal community by controlling reproduction rates. City leaders impose rules for reproduction. According to one of the women, "we have no right to personal feelings towards children... if necessary, we will become martyrs of science." However, most women did not agree with eugenics, such as some women in Oneida, New York.[17] Advocates such as American psychologist Leta S. Hollingsworth suggested providing compensation or incentives to promote marriage and reproduction of those individuals deemed desirable or suitable. For example, in the 1960s, Germany had serious debates over compensation payments and the approval of eugenic sterilizations. In early 1945 West Germany confirmed the law. Young men and women must undergo physical and mental screening. Before marriage, a health certificate must be presented to the registrar to ensure that both the man and the woman were in “good condition” before marriage.[18] If they were in good health, the couple would also receive an incentive to encourage them to father children. Most eugenics programs established targeted marriages first. Their main motive was to support eugenics and force sterilization. In addition, also hereditary forms of mental defectsbecame one of the main targets. Some eugenicists also targeted those who were criminals, prostitutes, and other socially unacceptable behaviors believed to be hereditary. For example, the American Neurological Association in the United States has promoted sexual sterilization for certain disabilities and mental illnesses such as epilepsy. In Germany, people suffering from cognitive diseases such as mental weakness, blindness, deafness or Huntington's disease, to name a few, were also sterilized. Through the promotion of eugenics in society, many highly educated men agreed with the scientific process of eugenics. A famous German biologist said: “we must ensure that these inferior people do not procreate”.[19] Unlike other countries, eugenics in Germany has become too extreme. In 1914, the Davenports Eugenics Record Office proposed sterilizing one-tenth of the population. According to the Eugenics Record Office, sterilizing “one tenth” of the population would allow the next generation to have a population representative of the effects of eugenics.[20] Although no other country has implemented eugenics to the extent that Germany, the United States Supreme Court has upheld the eugenics model. Additionally, in the United States, eugenicists attempted to convince Americans to adopt the practices of eugenics. Popular books were sold explaining the importance of applying the science of eugenics to the mentally ill, disabled, or undesirable. Additionally, eugenics in high schools was taught to young adults. Teachers urged students to select "socially desirable mates", in an effort to not directly but intentionally apply the laws of eugenics to society.[21] Although eugenics did not gain widespread appeal in the United States as it did in Germany, it sparked much controversy. Additionally, the practice of eugenics led to a new branch of science known as sterilization. Sterilization is the practice aimed at preventing a mentally and physically "defective" woman from transmitting her hereditary characteristics to her offspring. The method involves surgical procedures or birth control medications.[22] Sterilization is imposed on mentally and physically ill people, such as those considered “feeble-minded.” Sterilization in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries segregated socially undesirable and unfit people in society. For example, after World War II, Japan strongly promoted sterilization in order to create an ideal society. In 1948, the Eugenics Protection Law legalized abortion in Japan. The Law allowed the doctor to sterilize the person with his own consent and with the consent of his partner. Japan believed it would “prevent the birth of eugenically inferior offspring and protect maternal health and life.” Japan allowed the abortion of a child if one of the parents had a mental illness, a psychopathic disorder, carried a deformed hereditary gene, or a physical disability. The Japanese promoted these laws and thus abortion and sterilization became widely used throughout the country. A statistic relating to the year 1951 alone shows that since the law came into force there have been one million abortions and twenty-three thousand sterilizations.[23] Great Britain is another example of a country that has put sterilization into practice. In 1913, Britain drafted the Mental Deficiency Act. This act allowed the government to incarcerate any person with a mental illness. They also allowed doctors to sterilize women who were below their standards. Eugenics in Britain saw the "feeble-minded" as a hereditary issue,causing numerous social problems such as poverty. In Britain, as the First World War broke out, depression and the dismissal of the least employable became a concern. Therefore, to prevent the mentally ill from further worsening conditions in society during World War I, Social Darwinism introduced the concept of sterilization. The department's committee in Britain reported that a mental deficiency was hereditary and therefore recommended sterilization of the woman.[24] Social Darwinism has influenced the practice of sterilization, causing millions of lives to be lost and some individuals affected by it to develop depression and anxiety. A comparative study was conducted in two cities in China's Sichuan by the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health. The study indicated that “surgical sterilization has long-term psychological effects. Depression was significantly higher among sterilized men and women. The risk of depression was 2.34 times greater after tubal ligation and 3.97 times greater after vasectomy. The risk of anxiety was 2.88 times greater after tubal ligation and 4.79 times greater after vasectomy.”[25] As a result of social Darwinism, sterilization was practiced in two large countries, thus killing millions of lives and directly causing illnesses such as anxiety and depression in people affected by sterilization laws and practices. Furthermore, as discussed above, Social Darwinism in Germany was extremely popular. In the mid-twentieth century, Social Darwinism inspired the extermination of the “unfit in German society” through selective breeding using eugenics.[26] Without a doubt, Social Darwinism has actually increased racial consciousness to a greater extent. As a result, Social Darwinism inspired Nazi racial propaganda. According to the works of German biologists of the early 1900s, it is expressed through their writings that Spencer's theory of social Darwinism had a great influence on the motivations of the Nazis. They also claimed that when Adolf Hitler's government formulated its racial policies, it strongly reflected the ideas of Social Darwinism. Hitler's ideology was based on Darwin's theory of natural selection; taking the context literally and applying it to the human population.[27] According to Richard Weikart, the author of From Darwin to Hitler: Evolutionary Ethics, Eugenics, and Racism in Germany, “Darwinism by itself did not produce the Holocaust, but without Darwinism…neither Hitler nor his Nazi followers would have the scientific basis necessary to convince themselves and their collaborators that one of the world's greatest atrocities was indeed morally praiseworthy.” As Weikart mentions, the most prevalent factor that was the cause of the Holocaust in World War II is Spencer's notion of "survival of the fittest." Joseph Tenenbaum, the author of the book Race and Reich, noted that political philosophy in Germany was based on the philosophical theories of the time. He states: “struggle, selection and survival of the fittest, all notions and observations that came… from Darwin… but already in bloom in nineteenth-century German social philosophy. … Thus, he developed the doctrine of Germany's inherent right to rule the world on the basis of superior strength … [of a] “hammer and anvil” relationship between the Reich and weaker nations.”[28] Thus, since Darwinism social conformed In Hitler's ideology, social Darwinism was often considered a scientific reference. The eugenics program in Germany specifically aimed to purify populations of the “inferior race” and people mentally and physicallydefective. Furthermore, Social Darwinism taught unethical virtues within the school system. To begin Nazi racial propaganda, Hitler moved away from Christian doctrines in schools, replacing them with the concept of Social Darwinism. In the curriculum, students were taught the benefits of racial cleansing and eugenics. Hitler himself had declared that “no boy or girl should leave school without a complete knowledge of the necessity and meaning of blood purity”.[29] This was one of the main reasons why Nazism reached a national level. The Germans were taught to accept the words of Hitler, who ruled based on modifying the theory of natural selection, with the idea of ​​socially engineering the more superior German race. Hitler states that “we [the Nazis] must understand and collaborate with science”.[30] Unlike today, the idea that everyone is equal did not exist due to the great eugenics movement inspired by Social Darwinism. Furthermore, Social Darwinism in Germany ensured that if all inferiors were eliminated from the human population, the result would be a race governed only by superior characteristics. Hitler believed that humans were animals, similar to the animals observed by Darwin, and that to develop the human race the Aryans had to control the nature of evolution. Using selective breeding techniques, the Nazis developed and implemented laws designed to oppress the inferior race. The Nazis believed that Social Darwinism was pure fact and that they were simply applying proven science to the human race. Historian R. Hickman states that Hitler “… was a staunch believer and preacher of evolution. Whatever the deeper and more profound complexities of his psychosis, it is certain that [the concept of struggle was important because]… his book, Mein Kampf, clearly sets out a number of evolutionary ideas, particularly those that emphasize struggle, survival of the fittest and the extermination of the weak to produce a better society.”[31] As a result of Social Darwinian ideology, the Nazis practiced the laws of eugenics to an extreme level. Nazi policies inflicted harsh hatred specifically toward Jews, but not only toward other races such as Slovaks, Gypsies, the disabled, the feeble-minded, and others who were not easily distinguishable from the pure "Aryan" race. Hitler had a vision of exterminating all non-Germans from the country to prevent the pollution of the master race.[32] Starting with the Jews during World War II, Hitler imposed the Blood Protection Law, or more commonly known as the Nuremberg Laws, on September 15, 1935. These laws segregated all Jews from German life and stripped away all basic human rights. For example, the Nazis believed that those who were marginalized could reproduce and thus pass on their undesirable characteristics, infecting the genes of Aryans. For this reason, one of the Nuremberg Laws states that marriage or sexual relations with persons of "German or related blood" must be prohibited. Not long after the laws went into effect, Hitler called for privately killing all Jews in concentration camps. 33] According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, as many as six million Jews, two hundred thousand disabled people, and seventy thousand repeat criminals were brutally murdered as a result of Hitler's irrational logic established by Darwinism.[34] Hitler was convinced that Social Darwinism was true and believed that he was the "savior" of the human race because he could raise humanity to a supreme level. His attempt to massacre the entire Jewish population will be foreverknown as one of the greatest heinous crimes witnessed by humanity and Spencer's philosophy are the progenitor of this heinous event in history. Although racism preceded Social Darwinism, many philosophers used the theory of evolution to support the role of competition and racial superiority. Racial strife was at the heart of Spencer's interpretations of sociological change in society. Social Darwinism was used as a defense against the oppression of weaker races. Although Darwinism was not the source of aggressive ideology and racism, it became a new tool to explain the struggle of certain races. Max Nordau in the 1889 North American Review stated: "Since the theory of evolution has been promulgated, they can cover their natural barbarity with the name of Darwin, and proclaim the bloody instincts of their inmost hearts as the last words of science. "[35] ] Upper-class Europeans and Americans used Social Darwinism to justify class difference and their oppression of the poor. To explain further, social Darwinists have used scientific explanations to explain the obvious differences between rich and poor. Some social Darwinists have suggested that race competition is crucial to human evolution. A man named Ernst Haeckel emphasized imperil and racial competition. He hated that things like charities existed to facilitate the struggle because they would “sow the seeds of future racial decay” and stop the expulsion of the unfit. For example, in 1927, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Justice of the United States Supreme Court, stated: "It is better for all the world, if instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring, or starve them for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their species... Three generations of imbeciles are enough."[36] According to this quote, Holmes declared in court that it is appropriate to prevent the birth of a certain race instead of having to execute them later in life. Social Darwinism assumes that it is always the inferior person in a society who threatens the quality of the country's entire race by continuing to breed and produce offspring.[37] Social Darwinists considered competition between nations to be a decisive factor in the evolution of the human race. In other words, these men believed in the idea of ​​“racial superiority,” or creating a race that was the ultimate race. As a result of Haeckel's ideas, a man named Gustave Le Bon who studies racial psychology, argued that breeding between superior races was beneficial to society while breeding between superior and inferior races would cause complete disaster and annihilation, if would be prolonged into the future.generations. In Le Bon's L'Homme et les Societies, he states that "it has always been the inferior specimens in society who reproduced prolifically and threatened the quality of the race." Therefore, Le Bon strongly disagreed with racial and social equality. Likewise, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck saw the various human races at different biological stages of their hierarchy. His theory was that those who belonged to a lower hierarchical race were underdeveloped and, as those individuals matured, they would repeat the evolutionary process until they formed a civilized race. Furthermore, Spencer and Haeckel both saw humanity in evolving hierarchies of races and stated that “the Germanic race in northwestern Europe and North America” is at the top while “the Negro race is still in infancy,” meaning that it is still under development.[38] Therefore, social Darwinism was used as an explanation to state that differences