Social Darwinism
or so·cial Dar·win·ism
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.
Origin of Social Darwinism
1Other words from Social Darwinism
- So·cial Dar·win·ist, so·cial Dar·win·ist, noun
Words Nearby Social Darwinism
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use Social Darwinism in a sentence
Similar arguments were in fact used this way in the unlamented days of Social Darwinism.
Just Because It’s Natural Doesn’t Mean It’s Good - Issue 89: The Dark Side | David P. Barash | August 19, 2020 | NautilusBut in our past there has been another term for it - Social Darwinism, every man and woman for him or herself.
Time for Obama to Admit He Was Wrong and Start Fixing the Economy | Stuart Stevens | July 24, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTOur Constitution, Holmes famously wrote, does not enact Social Darwinism.
Impeach the Supreme Court Justices If They Overturn Health-Care Law | David R. Dow | April 3, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
Cultural definitions for social Darwinism
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.”
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Browse