英语论文网

Discuss critically AT LEAST TWO Social Darwinist authors who took opposing positions on the relationship between the sexes.
 Social Darwinismcan be argued to have had a pervasive if varied influence on the development ofthe social sciences, more often than not it needs to be acknowledged of anegative nature. This is particularly true of conterminous developmentsutilising evolutionary theory such as Eugenics which led to the sterilisationof thousands of 'evolutionary failures' in the US and elsewhere and theirultimate extermination in Nazi Germany, (Lynn, 2001). What is true of SocialDarwinism is doubly so of Darwinism itself with the constructs of Darwinianthought to be found for example in the writings of Marx. More generally andbroadly society itself is entwined and suffused with Darwinian and evolutionaryinspired mindsets, (Dickens, 2000). This is never more so the case than currentlywith the emergence and dominance of a new paradigm inspired by revolutions ingenetic science, (Kerr and Shakespeare, 2002).
 
Logically it mustbe assumed that in order to understand Social Darwinism it is necessary tounderstand Darwinian thought and to do this the context and cultural specificswhich engendered and encapsulated Darwin's work must similarly grasped,(Hawkins, 1997). In this sense although Darwin's theory is often held up as thequintessential scientific theory, the perfect rationalist answer as to thequestions of humanity's existence and hence also for many the answer to the universe'sexistence it is not the case that Darwin was uninfluenced by the context andcharacteristics of the society which he inhabited, (Bannister, 1979) . Ifanything Darwin's work is suffused with the societal values of which he was aproduct of and this is even truer of Social Darwinism which readily appliescultural values to societal analysis based upon evolutionary theory.
 
The Origins of the thesis
 
Although Darwin iscredited with the formulation of evolutionary theory this is a case ofmisattribution. Evolutionary theories were expounded prior to Darwin and indeedDarwin's contemporary Alfred Wallace came up with a similar hypothesis but wasbeaten to publication by Darwin. Darwin's initial reluctance to publish hiswork displayed an acute awareness of the levels of controversy which thepublication of his work would cause, (Burkhardt, 1996). Indeed it was thisfeared controversy which initially caused Darwin to hesitate in the publicationof his work. What then are the bones of Darwin's work, Darwin theory at itsmost simplest proposes that the different species and the characteristics ofthat species are a result of random mutations over the course of evolutionaryhistory, (Darwin, 1901). When an organism finds that one of these mutations hasbeen beneficial in terms of it being able to compete more effectively in itsenvironment and increase it chances of reproduction which both contribute toensuring that this beneficial mutation is passed on to a subsequent generationand thus the process of evolution continues, (Darwin, 1968).
 
Such a relativelysimple theory had a devastating impact on Darwin's society, culture andglobally as the theory delivered a fatal blow to religious explanations as tothe origins of humanity, (Crook, 1994). With Darwin's theory the rationalitybegun by the processes of the Enlightenment was almost complete in that ascientific teleology in relation本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。