Landmarks of Scientific Socialism: "Anti-Duehring"Engels, Friedrich
Philosophy
Landmarks of Scientific Socialism: "Anti-Duehring"
Engels, Friedrich
Dialectical materialism; Dühring, E. (Eugen), 1833-1921; Economics; Philosophy; Socialism
Herr Duehring is on his guard against entering upon the positive side
of this question. Instead he must again find fault with the struggle
for existence. There can be no argument about a struggle for existence
between plants and the genial eaters of plants "in a sufficiently
accurate sense the struggle for existence only occurs within the
sphere of brutality, in so far as nourishment depends upon robbery and
consumption." And after he has reduced the concept struggle for
existence to these narrow limits he gives his wrath free play as
regards the brutality of this conception which he himself has narrowed
down to a brutal conception. But this moral wrath simply reacts on
Herr Duehring himself, the inventor of this sort of struggle for
existence. It is not Darwin therefore who seeks among the lower
animals the "conditions of the operations of nature" (as a matter of
fact Darwin would have included the whole of organic nature in the
struggle), but one of Herr Duehring's bugaboos. The expression
"struggle for existence" in particular excites Herr Duehring's lofty
moral scorn. That this actually exists among plants every meadow,
every cornfield and every wood can show him. We need not trouble about
the name, whether one call it "struggle for existence" or "lack of the
conditions of existence and want of mechanical realisation," but as to
how this fact operates as regards the maintenance or transformation of
species. With regard to this Herr Duehring persists in a
characteristically stubborn silence. We cannot trouble ourselves any
more about natural selection.
But "Darwinism produces its changes and differentiations out of
nothing." Darwin thoroughly understands that he is engaged with the
causes which have produced changes in individuals and in the second
place he is engaged with the mode in which such individual
differentiations tend to mark off a race, a genus, or a species.
Darwin moreover was less occupied in discovering these causes, which
up to the present are either entirely unknown or on which there is
only general information, than in discovering a rational form in which
to establish their reality, to embrace their permanent significance.
But Darwin ascribed too wide a reach to his discovery in this that he
made it an exclusive means of variation in species and neglected the
causes of individual differentiations from the general form. This
mistake however is common to most people who make a step forwards.
Next, if Darwin produces his changes in individual types out of
nothing and thereby excludes the wisdom of the breeder, the breeder on
his part must not only display his wisdom but he must produce out of
nothing real changes in plant and animal forms. But who has given the
impetus to the investigation as to whence these variations and
differentiations proceed? It is again no one but Darwin.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account