Social Darwinism

*Whatisthevalueofevolutionarythoughttosocialtheory-andvice-versa?*Howhashumannatureevolvedandisitrealizedorconstrainedbymodernsociety?*Arethereparallelsbetweensocialevolutionandevolutioninthenaturalworld?SocialDarwinismistheextensionofDarwin'sevolutionaryideastohumansociety.Overthepasttwocenturiesithasbeenarguedthatthe'fittest'intermsofphysicalandmentalprowessaremostlikelytosurviveandreproduce.Ithasalsobeensuggestedthattheincreasinglycomplexstructureofhumansocietymirrorstheincreasingcomplexityofnature.Thishighlyoriginaltextexamineswhethertheseextensionsfromnaturetosocietyarejustified,andconsidershowdangeroustheymaybeinimplyingthesystematicneglect-orevendestruction-oftheleast'fit'.Itaskswhat,inanycase,is'fitness'asappliedtohumanbeings?Italsoquestionswhetherhumannatureisconstrainedbymodernsocietyandwhetherpeopleevolvedasessentiallycompetitiveorcollaborative.Writteninaclearandaccessiblestyle,withtextboxestoexplainkeyideasandlittleornobiologicalknowledgerequiredofthereader,thisbooksuggestsanewwayinwhichevolutionarythoughtandsocialtheorycanbecombined.Dickensarguesthatthedifficultiesandprejudicesassociatedwiththefieldcanbeavoidedbycombininghistoricalmaterialismwithaspectsofcontemporarybiologytocreatea'SocialDarwinism'forthetwenty-firstcentury.