Was Darwin a Social Darwinist?

Was Darwin a Social Darwinist? Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species was published in 1859. In it Darwin described the idea that animals evolved through variation and natural selection of those most fit to endure in particular environments. In 1871 Darwin applied this theory directly to human beings in The Descent of Man. Before either of these two works was published, Herbert Spencer was already contemplating the questions of evolution and progress. Spencer’s ideas …

…United States, 1900-1920. New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1990. Darwin, Charles. The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex. New York: Appleton and Co., 1883. Darwin, Charles. On the Origin of Species. New York: Grammercy, 1998. Heyer, Paul. Nature, Human Nature, and Society. London: Greenwood P, 1982. Hudson, William Henry. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Herbert Spencer. Haskell House Publishers: New York, 1974. Spencer, Herbert. The Data of Ethics. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1895.