Social Darwinism

Or so·cial Dar·win·ism

[soh-shuhl dahr-wuh-niz-uhm]

noun

Sociology.

1. a 19th-century theory, inspired by Darwinism, by which the social order is accounted as the product of natural selection of those persons best suited to existing living conditions and in accord with which a position of laissez-faire is advocated.

social Darwinism

1. A theory arising in the late nineteenth century that the laws of evolution, which Charles Darwin had observed in nature, also apply to society. Social Darwinists argued that social progress resulted from conflicts in which the fittest or best adapted individuals, or entire societies, would prevail. It gave rise to the slogan “survival of the fittest.”

Other Word Forms

• Social Darwinist noun
• social Darwinist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of social Darwinism¹

First recorded in 1885–90