Darwin and Modern ScienceSeward, A. C. (Albert Charles)
Philosophy
Darwin and Modern Science
Seward, A. C. (Albert Charles)
Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882; Evolution (Biology); Science -- History
In strict contradiction to this mystical dualism, which is generally
connected with teleology and vitalism, Darwin always maintained the
complete unity of human nature, and showed convincingly that the
psychological side of man was developed, in the same way as the body,
from the less advanced soul of the anthropoid ape, and, at a still more
remote period, from the cerebral functions of the older vertebrates. The
eighth chapter of the "Origin of Species", which is devoted to instinct,
contains weighty evidence that the instincts of animals are subject,
like all other vital processes, to the general laws of historic
development. The special instincts of particular species were formed
by adaptation, and the modifications thus acquired were handed on to
posterity by heredity; in their formation and preservation natural
selection plays the same part as in the transformation of every other
physiological function. The higher moral qualities of civilised man
have been derived from the lower mental functions of the uncultivated
barbarians and savages, and these in turn from the social instincts
of the mammals. This natural and monistic psychology of Darwin's was
afterwards more fully developed by his friend George Romanes in his
excellent works "Mental Evolution in Animals" and "Mental Evolution in
Man". (London, 1885; 1888.)
Many valuable and most interesting contributions to this monistic
psychology of man were made by Darwin in his fine work on "The Descent
of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex", and again in his supplementary
work, "The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals". To understand
the historical development of Darwin's anthropology one must read his
life and the introduction to "The Descent of Man". From the moment that
he was convinced of the truth of the principle of descent--that is to
say, from his thirtieth year, in 1838--he recognised clearly that
man could not be excluded from its range. He recognised as a logical
necessity the important conclusion that "man is the co-descendant with
other species of some ancient, lower, and extinct form." For many years
he gathered notes and arguments in support of this thesis, and for the
purpose of showing the probable line of man's ancestry. But in the first
edition of "The Origin of Species" (1859) he restricted himself to the
single line, that by this work "light would be thrown on the origin of
man and his history." In the fifty years that have elapsed since that
time the science of the origin and nature of man has made astonishing
progress, and we are now fairly agreed in a monistic conception of
nature that regards the whole universe, including man, as a wonderful
unity, governed by unalterable and eternal laws. In my philosophical
book "Die Weltratsel" (1899) ("The Riddle of the Universe", London,
1900.) and in the supplementary volume "Die Lebenswunder" (1904) "The
Wonders of Life", London, (1904.), I have endeavoured to show that this
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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