Social Darwinism in American Thought

Description:

A readable copy. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact. Dust jacket may be missing. Pages can include considerable highlighting markings writing but cannot obscure the text. May be an Ex-lib. copy and have standard library stamps and or stickers. May NOT include discs, or access code or other supplemental material. We ship Monday-Saturday and respond to inquiries within 24 hours. Seller Inventory # BXM.68KR

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Synopsis: Social Darwinism in American Thought portrays the overall influence of Darwin on American social theory and the notable battle waged among thinkers over the implications of evolutionary theory for social thought and political action. Theorists such as Herbert Spencer and William Graham Sumner adopted the idea of the struggle for existence as justification for the evils as well as the benefits of laissez-faire modern industrial society. Others such as William James and John Dewey argued that human planning was needed to direct social development and improve upon the natural order. Hofstadter's classic study of the ramifications of Darwinism is a major analysis of the social philosophies that animated intellectual movements of the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era.

From the Back Cover: Tracing the impact of Darwin on thinkers throughout the gilded Age and the Progressive era, 'Social Darwinism' shows how a politically neutral scientific theory has been adapted with skillful rhetoric to contradictory purposes.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Social Darwinism in American Thought
Publisher: Beacon Press
Publication Date: 1992
Binding: Soft cover
Condition: acceptable