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Chapter 6 in Unintended Consequences and the Social Sciences, 2023, pp 99-104 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter focuses on Darwin's position in the social field. Neither Darwin nor Thomas H. Huxley have ever argued that in society there is a struggle that realizes the survival of the fittest. Social life hosts an “ethical process”, the goal of which is not exclusion but inclusion or, more exactly, better inclusion. All “Darwinians before Darwin” were aware that humans must be place on an equal footing with the law, not because of their omniscience, but because of their common condition of ignorance and fallibility. This makes the voluntary co-adaptation of individual plans possible and fuels a permanent procedure of exploring the unknown and correcting errors. The evolutionary model allowed Darwin to shed light in the field of nature. However, when that model was re-imported into the social realm, forgetting that humans are cultural beings, the meaning of the process of cultural evolution was completely distorted. Social Darwinism has been a lasting damage inflicted on the advancement of the theory of cultural evolution.

Keywords: Economics and Finance; Politics and Public Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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