Social Darwinism

E1405

19th-century social theory ideology social theory

Social Darwinism is a 19th-century social theory that applied Charles Darwin’s ideas of natural selection to human societies, often to justify economic inequality, competition, and laissez-faire capitalism.

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All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
social Darwinism	5
Social Darwinism canonical	4
White Man's Burden ideology	1

Statements (50)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	19th-century social theory ⓘ ideology ⓘ social theory ⓘ
appliesConceptOf	natural selection ⓘ struggle for existence ⓘ survival of the fittest ⓘ
associatedWithConcept	biological determinism ⓘ blaming the poor for poverty ⓘ competition between groups ⓘ competition between individuals ⓘ competition between nations ⓘ meritocratic explanations of wealth ⓘ racial hierarchy ⓘ
basedOnIdeasOf	Charles Darwin ⓘ
criticizedBy	Christian social thinkers ⓘ modern biologists ⓘ progressive reformers ⓘ socialists ⓘ
criticizedFor	ethical implications ⓘ justifying exploitation ⓘ misapplying biological theory to society ⓘ scientific racism ⓘ
emergedInCentury	19th century ⓘ
emergedInContextOf	industrial capitalism ⓘ laissez-faire economics ⓘ
hasKeyConcept	fitness defined as economic success ⓘ social selection ⓘ
hasKeyProponent	Herbert Spencer ⓘ William Graham Sumner ⓘ
influencedBy	Darwinism ⓘ Herbert Spencer’s philosophy ⓘ Thomas Malthus’s population theory ⓘ
notEndorsedBy	Charles Darwin ⓘ
popularInCountry	Germany ⓘ United Kingdom ⓘ United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
popularInPeriod	early 20th century ⓘ late 19th century ⓘ
relatedTo	eugenics movement ⓘ imperialist ideology ⓘ laissez-faire capitalism ⓘ scientific racism ⓘ
usedToJustify	class hierarchy ⓘ colonialism ⓘ economic inequality ⓘ eugenics ⓘ imperialism ⓘ laissez-faire capitalism ⓘ minimal state intervention ⓘ social inequality ⓘ

Referenced by (10)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

The Gospel of Wealth → influencedBy → Social Darwinism ⓘ

Age of Imperialism → influencedBy → Social Darwinism ⓘ

this entity surface form: White Man's Burden ideology

Herbert Spencer → movement → Social Darwinism ⓘ