Darwin considered the implications of his theory for human development in his works The Descent of Man (1871) and The Expression of the Emotions (1872). Following the observations made from a lifetimes work he suggested that human mental ability and social behaviour could be shown to have the same sort of historical development as the human body. The term that has been given to this expression of his theories is ‘Social Darwinism.’

In the same way that Laplace considered the philosophical implications of the Newtonian model of the universe, so Herbert Spencer developed social theories based upon Darwinism. It was Herbert Spencer who coined the phrase “survival of the fittest” to describe the application of the theory of natural selection to ethical and social questions. His theories were extremely controversial, and they went beyond anything that Darwin himself would have suggested. He was opposed by many and in particular by T. H.Huxley, one of Darwin’s most vocal supporters.

Spencer believed that the implication of natural selection was that human society should follow the struggle for survival in nature. For example, those who were not strong enough to live should be allowed to die. Whatever makes the totality of life greater is good, but whatever diminishes life is inherently bad. He believed that the Poor Laws, which made provision for the destitute, and state education, were bad, as they benefited only those who were incapable of taking care and bettering themselves.

The survival of the fittest morality have arguably been one of the most destructive ideological forces of the modern age. But, in defence of Darwin and the theories of natural selection, we must remember that it is totally concerned with offering an account of the process of evolution (what it is supposed did in fact happen), and not a social commentary (what it is supposed ought to happen).

In fact Spencer’s whole ethical viewpoint is guilty of the naturalistic fallacy, as G.E.Moore points out; Spencer attempts to derive an ‘ought’ from an ‘is’.

 

Likewise Professor Steve Jones comments, “Evolution is to the social sciences as statues are to birds; a convenient platform upon which to deposit badly-digested ideas…There might be inborn drives for rape or for greed, but Homo sapiens, uniquely, need not defer to them.”

 It would appear then that Darwin’s evolutionary view of the origin of the moral sense, in fact, holds no quarrel with a theistic viewpoint. There is something about human behaviour and ethical actions, which seem to suggest either a unique quality, or a heightened one, at the least. Social Darwinism in truth has little or nothing to do with Darwinian evolutionary theory, as it was originally intended. One is a scientific commentary upon the evolution of the species, whereas the other is a social commentary that has little basis in science.

Finally could it be said that Darwin’s theory of the origin of the moral sense, essentially moral subjectivism, is irreconcilable to the objectivity of a theistic account of morality? I would suggest not; we identify the moral value of an act by virtue of some form of natural property. The moral subjectivist, like Darwin, would identify these natural properties as being reflective of personal feelings of approval or revulsion. We can know that certain acts with certain ‘natural properties’ are wrong because of the feelings that they cause within us.

For the atheist and those who posit that God is not the basis of ethics, this argument removes the role that the theists claim God plays in the moral life. But the theist can respond to this by attributing our moral psychology, those feelings of revulsion or acceptance, as being part of a natural make up intended (dare I say designed) by God. Although this is not a conclusive position, it does suggest that theism and moral subjectivism are not irreversibly contradictory positions.