Social Darwinism: Science and Myth in Anglo-American Social Thought, with a new preface PDF
Preview Social Darwinism: Science and Myth in Anglo-American Social Thought, with a new preface
Social Darwinism Science and Myth in Anglo-American Social Thought American Civilization A Series Edited by Allen F. Davis Social Darwinism Science and Myth in Anglo-American Social Thought 'With a new preface ROBERT C. BANNISTER Temple University Press Philadelphia Temple University Press, Philadelphia 19122 © 1979 by Temple University. All rights reserved Published 1979 Printed in the United States of America Library of Ccmgress Cataloging in Publication Data Bannister, Robert C. Social Darwinism. (American civilization) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Social Darwinism-History. 1. Title. II. Series. HM106.B255 301'.0424 79-615 ISBN 0-87722-155-3 For Joan Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction: The Idea of Social Darwinism 3 1 The Scientific Background 14 2 Hushing Up Death 34 3 Philanthropic Energy and Philosophic Calm 57 4 Amending the Faith 79 5 William Graham Sumner 97 6 The Survival of the Fittest Is Our Doctrine 114 7 Neo-Darwinism and the Crisis of the 1890s 137 8 A Pigeon Fanciers' Polity 164 9 The Scaffolding of Progress 180 10 The Nietzsche Vogue 201 11 Beyond the Battle: The Literary Naturalists 212 12 Imperialism and the Warriar Critique 226 Epilogue: From Histrionics to History 245 Notes 252 Index 285 Acknowledgments The idea for this study developed initially during a year of reading on British Intellectual History from 1880 to 1920 at the British Library in London, supported by a Study Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies. During 1970-71 and 1974-75 I was able to work inter mittently on the project in connection with a more general study of the origins of American sociology (forthcoming) under grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Andrew Mellon Foundation. In addition, Swarthmore College has supported the work through a generous sabbatical policy and grants to cover secretarial costs. Two chapters previously appeared in slightly altered form. Chapter 6 incorporates" 'The Survival of the Fittest Is our Doctrine': History or His trionics?" (Journal of the History of Ideas, 31 [19701, 377-98), and is re printed with the permission of the editors. Chapter 5 appeared in slightly different form as "William Graham Sumner's 'Social Darwinism'" (His tory of Political Economy, 5 [19731, 89-109), copyright by Duke University Press, which grants permission for republication. My quest for the elusive Snark of "social Darwinism" placed a special strain on the patience and good will of many librarians. The incomparable resources of the British Library in London and the Bodelian at Oxford proved invaluable. I am also indebted to many libraries in this country for help in tracing often obscure publications, in particular the Library of Congress, the New York Public Library, and the university libraries at Cornell, Columbia, Chicago, Northwestern, Penn, Yale, and Wisconsin. I want especially to thank Ms. Judith Schiff at Yale, and Ms. Josephine L. Harper at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin for assistance with the William Graham Sumner and Henry Demarest Lloyd Papers respectively. My colleagues and students at Swarthmore College have provided a receptive audience from the start. I wish especially to thank Professor James A. Field, Jr., of the History Department for his interest and critical acumen. Professor Allen F. Davis of Temple University, and general editor of the Temple University Press series, American Civilization, has been supportive at various stages of the project. Finally, I want to thank my associates in the General History Department of the University of Helsinki -where I served as visiting professor in 1977-78-for providing through scholarly example and personal kindness so ideal an environment for com pleting the final draft.
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