A Philosophical Analysis of Darwinism’s Role in the Victimization of Genocide Victims and the Politics of “eugenics”
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Relevance of the Problem.Traditional biological Darwinism provides an acceptable explanation for the origin of species: complex "fit" species evolve, survive, and thrive, while less fit competitors stagnate, die, and become extinct.Biological evolution, at least in its pure form, is purely descriptive.Social Darwinism, by contrast, often has a very attributive component, as it concerns human behavior.What is the actual connection between biological evolution and social Darwinism?These question will undoubtedly occupy scholars for many years and may never be resolved.The aim of this article is to critically examine the historical misuse of Darwinian evolutionary theory in justifying harmful political ideologies and social policies, particularly in the contexts of Nazi Germany and Stalinist Soviet Union.To explore how concepts such as "survival of the fittest" were distorted to rationalize eugenics, racism, and totalitarianism, and to assess the lasting impact of these misapplications on both the public perception of evolution and the broader ethical discourse surrounding scientific theories.The research investigates how Darwinism was adapted to justify racism, genocide, eugenics, and other forms of social violence.Objectives: To define the concept of "social Darwinism" and distinguish it from biological Darwinism.To reveal the mechanisms of interpretation and transformation of Darwinian ideas within various ideological systems.To examine historical cases of the application of social Darwinism in the political practices of the 20th century.To assess the impact of these interpretations on public perception of evolutionary theory.To analyze the moral and ethical consequences of the ideological use of scientific concepts.Research methods.historical and logical approach, comparisons and analogies, structural-functional method and dialectical principles of objectivity of research a methodological basis that allows studying social Darwinism as a unique factor in the formation of ideological slogans at different levels and identifying its dependence on the specifics of the context -historical, social, ethnocultural.Results.The study found that despite the purely scientific nature of Darwin's theory of natural selection, its principles were repeatedly instrumentalized for ideological purposes.In Nazi Germany, evolutionary concepts were distorted to support racial theory, eugenics, and genocide.In Stalinist USSR, ideas of social selection were used to justify mass repression and cultural annihilation.In the U.S. and Western Europe, social Darwinist ideas underpinned forced sterilization programs.These findings demonstrate that social Darwinism functioned not as a scientific doctrine but as a rhetorical tool for legitimizing preexisting political agendas.Conclusion.Darwinism has consistently been tied to social and ideological agendas that have nothing to do with the "origin of species".The tragedy of Darwinism's history is that it has always looked much wider than biology.And today, Christian opposition to evolution is based on the belief that Darwin's theory undermines traditional values and opens the door to all sorts of evil.
Language: English
Topic: Medical History and Research
Subfield: History
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4412984276