DARWINISM, a term often too widely applied, and made to cover every subject relating to the origin and development of species. Of the writers, mainly iu England, who have gathered the vast array of facts taken as a basis for the doctrine of evolution (see SPECIES), Charles Darwin (see DARWIN, CHARLES, ante) deserves especial notice. Though modestly confining himself to the problem of accounting for the evolution of the higher organic forms out of the lower, Darwin has done much to further the idea of a gradual evolution of the physical world. The philosophic significance of the hypothesis of natural selection, especially associated with Mr. Darwin, is due, as prof. Helmholtz points out, to the fact that it introduces a strictly mechanical conception in order to account for those intricate arrangements known as organic adaptation, which had before been conceived only in a teleological manner. By viewing adaptations as conditions of self-preservation, Darwin explains the abundant appearance of purpose in organic nature. By his resolute endeavor in this direction,. he has done much to eliminate the teleological method from biology, while it is true, that, in his conception of seemingly spontaneous variations and of correlations of growth, he leaves room for the old manner of viewing the organic development as controlled by some internal organiz ing principle. Again, Darwin has greatly extended the scope of mechanical interpre tation by making intelligible, apart from the co-operation of intelligent purpose, a gen esis of the organic world as a harmonious system of distinct groups, a unity in variety, having certain well-marked typical affinities. Darwin in his doctrine of the organic world as a survival refers this appearance of systematic plan to perfectly natural causes, thus giving new meaning to the ancient theory that the harmony of the world arises out of discord. Once more, his hypothesis is of wide philosophic interest, since it supports the idea of a perfect gradation in the progress of things. The variations which he postulates are slight, if not infinitesimal, and effect a sensible functional or morphological change only after they have been frequently repeated and accumulated by heredity. Darwin's later work, in which he applies his theory of the origin of
species to man, is a valuable contribution to a naturalistic conception of human develop ment. The mind of man in its lowest stages of development is here brought into close juxtaposition to the animal mind, and the progress of man is viewed as effected by natural causes, chief among which is the action of natural selection. He does not inquire into the exact way iu which the mental and bodily are connected. He simply assumes that, just as the bodily organism is capable of varying in an indefinite number of ways, so may the mental faculties vary indefinitely in correspondence with certain physical changes. In this way he seeks to account for all the higher mental powers, as the use of language and reason, the sentiment of beauty, and conscience. Finally, Darwin seeks to give a practical and ethical turn to his doctrine, since he defines the general good—the proper object of man's action—as "the rearing of the greatest num ber of individuals in full health and vigor, and with all their faculties perfect under the conditions to which they are subject." In his view of the future of the race, he leans to the idea that the natural process which has effected man's first progress must continue to be an important factor in evolution, and that, consequently, it is not well to check the scope of this process by either an undue restraint of population, or a charita ble preservation of the incompetent. It is well to observe that if Darwinism confined itself to a strict following of the great investigator, it might involve less of philosophic and metaphysical theory than has become popularly associated with it, for much of which Darwin is not to be held responsible, at least in the terms of his presentation. Facts and the co-ordination of facts in their physical ranges are his inestimable con tribution to science. Beyond the physical relation, he does not mark out a path. It is evident that from his treasury of facts, widely divergent systems of evolution may be drawn, according as the evolution which he has presented as a fact is accounted for by referring its cause or its working force to one or another set of principles.