Social Darwinism. Features of the theory

Social Darwinism, as a direction, was formed in the 19th century. The works of the founders of the teaching had a colossal influence on contemporaries. Naturally, the very law of Darwin, being a large-scale scientific event, could not but affect the field of social knowledge. In England, Spencer and Bedzhgot systematically applied the teaching to real life. The latter, being a publicist, economist, tried to use the principles on which the direction in question was based while studying historical processes in society. And by the end of the 19th century Spencer's ideas were assimilated by leading figures Giddings and Ward.

Social Darwinism. Key Concepts

For the entire social science of the 19th century, and especially its second half, a number of priority moments became characteristic. These key concepts were highlighted by Darwin himself. The theory followed by scientists after him became a paradigm that penetrated various areas of social thought. These basic concepts were "natural selection", "survival of the strongest," "struggle for existence." In this regard, social Darwinism has not only acted as a special direction. Categories inherent in the teaching, began to apply and in those areas of knowledge, which were initially somewhat hostile to him. So, for example, Durkheim used some concepts included in social Darwinism. Despite his rather radical anti-reductionism in the study of social phenomena, and also the emphasis on the value of solidarity, he considered the divisions in social labor as a somewhat relaxed form of a definite struggle for existence.

Social Darwinism in the late 19th century

By the end of the nineteenth century, the ideas of "natural selection" went beyond the scientific sphere and became very popular in business, journalism, mass consciousness, fiction. Representatives, for example, of the economic elite, business tycoons, based on the theory of evolution, concluded that they are not only lucky and talented, but also considered a visible embodiment of victory in the struggle for existence in their particular sphere. In this regard, it is erroneous, according to the researchers, to regard social Darwinism as a doctrine based only on biological aspects and is a simple continuation of them. It can be defined as a direction that reduces the laws of social development to the principles of natural evolution. Social Darwinism, in particular, considers the struggle for survival as a defining aspect of life. At the same time, the non-biological principles of the doctrine point to the fact that, in a sense, the old social thought is actualized and substantiated. Among all the signs of the direction under consideration, one of the main points is the consideration of life as an arena, on which there is a universal and continuous struggle, conflicts, clashes between individuals, societies, groups, customs, institutions, cultural and social types.