Darwinism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Darwinism - Essay Example When European imperialism of the bygone age is revisited, one can see leading intellectuals of the time indulging in Social Darwinist interpretations of the empire. They explained that the European/Caucasian races are a better breed of humans compared to the colored populations, and thereby possessed the right to civilize the latter by means of imperialist enterprise. In what is a self-fulfilling circular argument, they pointed to the success of European powers to conquer and rule other parts of the world as a proof for the Social Darwinist theory. The White/Caucasian people, by virtue of being the 'fittest' among the races, were best adapted to spread their seeds. And the imperialist project gave avenue for this genetic dispersal. Needless to say, Darwin would have been deeply disconcerted upon hearing such imaginative constructions of this path-breaking work. And as the most telling rebuke to such vainglory, the eugenics project of the Third Reich, which projected the ultimate vict ory of the Aryan race over all others, would serve to disprove Social Darwinist underpinnings of Imperialism through its colossal failure. Work Cited: Spielvogel, Jackson, Western Civilization, Volume II. Published in 2009 by The Pennsylvania State University, ISBN-10: 0495502855.