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Social Evolutionism is a athropological and sociological social theory that holds that societies progress through stages of increasing development, i.e. are influenced by the process of social progress. Thus it deals with the process of social development whereby societies are thought to start out in a primitive state and gradually become more civilized over time. In this context, primitive is associated with animalistic behaviour (like state of nature, caveman, barbarian, savage); while civilization is associated with technological progress. While older, 19th century theories equated the culture of Western civilization with progress, modern 20th century theories are more diverse and culturally sensitive, and generally incorporate more progressive understandings of evolutionary theory. Anthropology (from the Greek word άνθÏωπος = human) consists of the study of humankind (see genus Homo). ...
Social interactions of people and their consequences are the subject of sociology studies. ...
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Social progress is defined as a progress of society, which makes this society better. ...
Social progress is defined as a progress of society, which makes this society better. ...
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The word primitive can refer to: primitive art and Primitivism (art) primitive (biology) primitive (computer science) primitive (linguistics) primitive (mathematics) primitive (ontology) Primitive (song) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...
State of nature is a term in political philosophy used to describe the hypothetical or empirical condition of humanity when or if government did not exist. ...
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Barbarian was originally a Greek term applied to any foreigner, one not sharing a recognized culture or degree of polish with the speaker or writer employing the term. ...
Savage has various meanings. ...
A civilization or civilisation has a variety of meanings related to human society. ...
Origins of theory According to Czech philosopher Radovan Richta, in his 1967 publication “Man and Technology in the Revolution of Our Day”, technology (which he defines as “a material entity created by the application of mental and physical effort to nature in order to achieve some value”) evolves in three...
The word culture comes from the Latin root colere (to inhabit, to cultivate, or to honor). ...
For alternative meanings for The West in the United States, see the U.S. West and American West. ...
Social evolutionism evolved simoultanesly but independently of Darwin's works and was popular in the late 19th century to the end of World War II. From the second half of the 20th century, classical social evolutionism - the theories of August Comte, Herbert Spencer and their contemporaries - have been replaced by more advanced theories of evolution in sociology, like sociobiology, theory of modernisation and theory of post-industrial society. Some forms of social evolutionism lead to theories of Social Darwinism, other to the development of important field in anthropology like cultural anthropology. Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km (over 11 miles) into the air. ...
(19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the...
Auguste Comte Auguste Comte (full name Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte) (January 17 (recorded January 19), 1798 _ September 5, 1857) was a positivist thinker and a founder of the discipline of sociology. ...
Herbert Spencer. ...
Sociobiology is a synthesis of scientific disciplines that attempts to explain behavior in all species by considering the evolutionary advantages of social behaviors. ...
Social Darwinism is a social theory which holds that Darwins theory of evolution by natural selection affects not only the distribution of biological traits in a population, but that it affects human social institutions as well. ...
Anthropology (from the Greek word άνθÏωπος = human) consists of the study of humankind (see genus Homo). ...
Cultural anthropology, also called social anthropology or socio-cultural anthropology, is one of four commonly recognized fields of anthropology, the holistic study of humanity. ...
History & Theoretical Basis
The birth of Social Evolutionism Theories of social and cultural evolution are common in European thought. The Enlightenment thinkers often speculated that societies progressed through stages of increasing development and looked for the logic, order and the set of scientific truths that determined the course of human history. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, for example, argued that social development was an inevitible and determined process, similar to an acorn which has no choice but to become an oak tree. Likewise, it was assumed that societies start out primitive, perhaps in a Hobbesian state of nature, and naturally progress toward something resembling industrial Europe. Cultural evolution is the structural change of a society and its values over time. ...
For the period in European history, The Age of Enlightenment For the corresponding movement in the European Jewish community, see Haskalah. ...
History is often used as a generic term for information about the past, such as in geologic history of the Earth. When used as the name of a field of study, history refers to the study and interpretation of the record of human societies. ...
G.W.F. Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (August 27, 1770 - November 14, 1831) was a German philosopher born in Stuttgart, Württemberg, in present-day southwest Germany. ...
Thomas Hobbes: detail from a portrait by John Michael Wright (National Portrait Gallery, London) Thomas Hobbes (April 5, 1588 – December 4, 1679) was a noted English political philosopher, most famous for his book Leviathan (1651). ...
State of nature is a term in political philosophy used to describe the hypothetical or empirical condition of humanity when or if government did not exist. ...
In the 19th century three great, classical theories of social and historical change were created: the Social Evolutionism theory, the social cycle theory and the Marxist historical materialism theory. Those theories had one common factor: they all agreed that the history of humanity is pursuing a certain fixed path, most likely that of the social progress. Thus, each past event is not only chronologicaly, but casualy tied to the the present and future events. Those theory postulated that by recreating the sequence of those events, sociology could discover the Laws of history. Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Marxism is the political practice and social theory based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary, along with Friedrich Engels. ...
// General Historical materialism (or what Marx himself preferred to call the materialist conception of history - materialistischen Geschichtsaufassung) is a social theory and an approach to the study of history and sociology, normally considered as the intellectual basis of Marxism. ...
Social progress is defined as a progress of society, which makes this society better. ...
Social evolutionism was the prevailing theory of early socio-cultural anthropology and social commentary, and is associated with scholars like Edward Burnett Tylor, Lewis Henry Morgan, and Herbert Spencer. Social evoultionism represented an attempt to formalize social thinking along scientific lines, later influenced by the biological theory of evolution. If organisms could develop over time according to discernable, deterministic laws, then it seemed reasonable that societies could as well. This really marks the beginning of Anthropology as a scientific discipline and a departure from traditional religious views of "primitive" cultures. Cultural anthropology, also called social anthropology or socio-cultural anthropology, is one of four commonly recognized fields of anthropology, the holistic study of humanity. ...
Edward Burnett Tylor. ...
Lewis Henry Morgan (1818-1881) was an American lawyer and amateur scholar best known for his work on cultural evolution and Native Americans. ...
Herbert Spencer. ...
Charles Darwin, father of the theory of evolution by natural selection. ...
The term "Social Evolutionism" is most closely associated with the 19th centiry writings of Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer (who coined the phrase "survival of the fittest") and William Graham Sumner. In many ways Spencer's theory of 'cosmic evolution' has much more in common with the works of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and August Comte than with contemporary works of Charles Darwin. Spencer also developed and published his theories several years earlier then Darwin (see social darwinism for detailed discussion of this). In regards to social institutions, however, there is a good case that Spencer's writings might be classified as 'Social Evolutionism'. He argues that the individual (rather than the collectivity) is the unit of analysis that evolves, that evolution takes place through natural selection, and that it affects social as well as biological phenomenon. Auguste Comte Auguste Comte (full name Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte) (January 17 (recorded January 19), 1798 - September 5, 1857) was a positivist thinker and a founder of the discipline of sociology. ...
Herbert Spencer. ...
Herbert Spencer coined the phrase survival of the fittest Survival of the fittest is a phrase which is a shorthand for a concept relating to competition for survival or predominance. ...
William Graham Sumner (1840-1910) was the leading American advocate of Social Darwinism. ...
Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, Chevalier de Lamarck (August 1, 1744 - December 28, 1829) was a major 19th century French naturalist, who was one of the first to use the term biology in its modern sense. ...
Charles Darwin, about the same time as the publication of The Origin of Species. ...
Social Darwinism is a social theory which holds that Darwins theory of evolution by natural selection affects not only the distribution of biological traits in a population, but that it affects human social institutions as well. ...
Both Spencer and Comte view the society as a kind of organism subject to the process of growth - from simplicity to complexity, from chaos to order, from generalisation to specialisation, from flexibility to organisation. They agreed that the process of societies growth can be divided into certain stages, have their beginning and eventual end, and that this growth is in fact social progress - each newer, more evolved society is better. Thus progressivism became one of the basic ideas underlying the theory of social evolutionism. In biology growth is increase in size. ...
Social progress is defined as a progress of society, which makes this society better. ...
Progressivism or political progressivism is any of several historically related political philosophies or political ideologies. ...
Era of classical evolutionism While social evolutionists agree that the evolution-like process leads to the social progress, they have develpoed many different theories. Social progress is defined as a progress of society, which makes this society better. ...
August Comte, known as father of sociology, formulated the law of three stages: human development progresses from the theological stage, in which nature was mythically conceived and man sought the explanation of natural phenomena from supernatural beings, through metaphysical stage in which nature was conceived of as a result of obscure forces and man sought the explanation of natural phenomena from them until the final positive stage in which all abstract and obscure forces are discarded, and natural phenomena are explained by their constant relationship. This progress is forced through the development of human mind, and increasing application of thought, reasoning and logic to the understanding of world. Auguste Comte Auguste Comte (full name Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte) (January 17 (recorded January 19), 1798 _ September 5, 1857) was a positivist thinker and a founder of the discipline of sociology. ...
Theology is literally reasonable discourse concerning God (Greek θεος, theos, God, + λογος, logos, word or reason). By extension, it also refers to the study of other religious topics. ...
Metaphysics (Greek words meta = after/beyond and physics = nature) is a branch of philosophy concerned with the study of first principles and being (ontology). ...
Positivism can have several meanings. ...
Herbert Spencer, who believed that society was evolving toward increasing freedom for individuals; and so held that government intervention, ought to be minimal in social and political life, differentiated between two phases of development, focusing is on the type of internal regulation within societies. Thus he differentiated between military and industrial societies. The earlier, more primitive military society has a goal of conquest and defence, is centralised, economically self-sufficient, collectivistic, puts the good of a group over the good of an individual, uses compulsion, force and repression, rewards loyalty, obedience and discipline. The industrial society has a goal of production and trade, is decentralised, interconneted with other societies via economic relations, achievies its goals through voluntary cooperation and individual self-restrain, treats the good of individual as the highest value, regulates the social life via voluntary relations, values innitiative, independence and innovation. A conquest is the act of conquering a foreign land, usually for its assimilation into a larger federation or empire. ...
The words defense or defence can refer to any of the following: For defense of a doctoral dissertation see thesis committee For the military term see defense (military) Civil defense measures and emergency preparedness In politics, defense may be a euphemism for war For legal defense see defense (legal) For...
Centralization is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding decision-making, become concentrated within a particular location and/or group. ...
The word economy can refer to any of several things: The economy of the world — see world economy The economy of a country — see economics and economic system Economy is financial soundness or affordability. ...
A collective is a group of people who share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together to achieve a common objective. ...
Look up Trade in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Trade centers on the exchange of goods and/or services. ...
Decentralisation (or decentralization) is any of various means of more widely distributing decision-making to bring it closer to the point of service or action. ...
Regardless of how scholars of Spencer interpret his relation to Darwin, Spencer proved to be an incredibly popular figure in the 1870s, particularly in the United States. Authors such as Edward Youmans, William Graham Sumner, John Fiske, John W. Burgess, Lester Frank Ward, Lewis H. Morgan and other thinkers of the gilded age all developed theories of Social Darwinism as a result of their exposure to Spencer as well as Darwin. Events and Trends Technology The invention of the telephone (1876) by Alexander Graham Bell. ...
William Graham Sumner (1840-1910) was the leading American advocate of Social Darwinism. ...
John Fiske (1842–1901), born Edmund Fisk Green, was an American philosopher and historian. ...
Lester Frank Ward (born June 18, 1841 in Joliet, Illinois, died Apr. ...
Lewis Henry Morgan (November 21, 1818 – December 17, 1881) is considered to be the Father of American Anthropology, although his professional life was in the field of law. ...
The term Gilded Age refers to the political and economic nature situation of the United States from approximately 1876-1900. ...
Lewis H. Morgan, an anthropologist whose ideas have had much impact on sociology, in his 1877 classic "Ancient Societies" differentiated between three eras: savagery, barbarism and civilisation, which are divided by technological inventions, like fire, bow, pottery in savage era, domestication of animals, agriculture, metalworking in barbarian era and alphabet and writing in civilisation era. Thus Morgan introduced a link between the social progress and technological progress. Morgan viewed the technological progress as a force behinds the social progress, and any social change - in social institutions, organisations or ideologies have their begining in the change of technology. Morgan's theories were popularised by Friedrich Engels, who based his famous work "The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State" on it. For Engels and other marxists, this theory was important as it supported their conviction that materialistic factors - economical and technological - are decisive in shaping the fate of humanity. Anthropology (from the Greek word άνθÏωπος = human) consists of the study of humankind (see genus Homo). ...
1877 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...
Savage has various meanings. ...
A barbarism is a word or expression that is not standard in a language. ...
For other uses, see Civilization (disambiguation). ...
Fire is a form of combustion. ...
The word bow has several meanings and two pronunciations, depending on meaning: Rhymes with low A kind of weapon; see bow (weapon). ...
A man shapes pottery as it turns on a wheel. ...
Domesticated animals, plants, and other organisms are those whose collective behavior, life cycle, or physiology has been altered as a result of their breeding and living conditions being under human control for multiple generations. ...
Metalworking is the craft and practice of working with metals to create parts or structures. ...
An alphabet is a complete standardized set of letters — basic written symbols — each of which roughly represents a phoneme of a spoken language, either as it exists now or as it may have been in the past. ...
Writing is a process which may refer to two activities: the inscribing characters on a medium, with the intention of forming words and other lingual constructs that represent language and record information, or the creation of information to be conveyed through written language. ...
Social progress is defined as a progress of society, which makes this society better. ...
Origins of theory According to Czech philosopher Radovan Richta, in his 1967 publication “Man and Technology in the Revolution of Our Day”, technology (which he defines as “a material entity created by the application of mental and physical effort to nature in order to achieve some value”) evolves in three...
Social change refers to acts of advocacy for the cause of changing society in a positive way. ...
A social institution is any institution in a socity that works to socialize the groups or people in it. ...
Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels (November 28, 1820–August 5, 1895) was a 19th-century German political philosopher. ...
Marxism is the political practice and social theory based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary, along with Friedrich Engels. ...
Emile Durkheim, another of the 'fathers' of sociology, has developed a similar, dichtomical view of social progress. His key concept was social solidarity, as he defined the social evolution in terms of progressing from mechanical solidarity to organic solidarity. In mechanical solidarity, people are self-sufficient, there is little integration and thus there is the need for use of force and repression to keep society together. In organic solidarity, people are much more integrated and interdependent and specialisation and cooperation is extensive. Progress from mechanical to organic solidarity is based first on population growth and increasing population density, second on increasing 'morality density' (development of more complex social interactions) and thirdly, on the increasing specialisation in workplace. To Durkheim, the most important factor in the social progress is the division of labor. David Émile Durkheim (April 15, 1858 - November 15, 1917) is known as the founder of modern sociology. ...
A dichotomy is a division into two non-overlapping or mutually exclusive and jointly exhaustive parts. ...
Humanitism is a philosophy born in academic circles from efforts in dialogue & universalism and in the minds of the populus at the close of the 2nd Millennium CE rather than one that can be ascribed to any one individual. ...
Solidarity in sociology refers to the feeling or condition of unity based on common goals, interests, and sympathies among a groups members. ...
Solidarity in sociology refers to the feeling or condition of unity based on common goals, interests, and sympathies among a groups members. ...
Population growth is changing of the amount of population over time. ...
Interaction is a kind of action which occurs as two or more objects have an effect upon one another. ...
Division of labour is the breakdown of labour into specific, circumscribed tasks for maximum efficiency of output in the context of manufacturing. ...
Edward Burnett Tylor Edward Burnett Tylor. ...
Lester Frank Ward Lester Frank Ward (born June 18, 1841 in Joliet, Illinois, died Apr. ...
Ferdinand Toennies Ferdinand Tönnies (July 26, 1855, near Oldenswort (Eiderstedt) - April 9, 1936, Kiel, Germany) was a German sociologist. ...
Neo-evolutionism Leslie A. White Leslie Alvin White (19 January 1900, Salida Colorado -- 31 March 1975) was an anthropologist known for his advocacy of theories of cultural evolution and his role in creating the department of anthropology at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor. ...
Julian Steward Julian Haynes Steward (January 31, 1902 - February 6, 1972) was an American anthropologist best known for his role in the development of a scientific theory of cultural evolution in the years following WWII. Biography Steward was born to a family of devout Christian Scientists in Washington, D.C.. His family...
Marshall Sahlins Marshall Sahlins (born 1930) is a prominent American anthropologist. ...
Gerhard Lenski Gerhard Emmanuel Lenski (born August 13, 1924) is a sociologist known for contributions to the sociology of religion, social inequality, and ecological-evolutionary social theory (which is related to cultural evolution). ...
Talcott Parsons Talcott Parsons (December 13, 1902, Colorado Springs, USA - May 8, 1979, Munich, Germany) was the best-known sociologist in the United States, and one of the best-known in the world for many years. ...
Neo-darwinism and sociobiology Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection affects not only the distribution of biological traits in a population, but that it affects human social institutions as well. Charles Darwin, about the same time as the publication of The Origin of Species. ...
This article is about biological evolution. ...
Natural selection is a process by which biological populations are altered over time, as a result of the propagation of heritable traits that affect the capacity of individual organisms to survive and reproduce. ...
Edward Wilson There have been at least two notable people called Edward Wilson. ...
Theory of modernisation Walt Rostow Walt Whitman Rostow (also known as Walt Rostow or W.W. Rostow) (October 7, 1916 - February 13, 2003) was an American economist and political thinker prominent for his staunch opposition to Communism and belief in the efficacy of capitalism and free enterprise. ...
David Apter
David McClelland David Clarence McClelland (May 20, 1917, Mount Vernon, New York - March 27, 1998, Lexington, Massachusetts) was a behavioral psychologist. ...
Alex Inkeles
Theory of post-industrial society Alvin Toffler Alvin Toffler Alvin Toffler (born October 3, 1928) is an American writer and futurist, known for his works discussing the digital revolution, communications revolution, corporate revolution and technological singularity. ...
Daniel Bell Daniel Bell (born 1919) is a sociologist and professor emeritus at Harvard University. ...
John Naisbitt
Critique Cultural anthropology rejected social evolutionism due to various theoretical problems: Cultural anthropology, also called social anthropology or socio-cultural anthropology, is one of four commonly recognized fields of anthropology, the holistic study of humanity. ...
- The theory is deeply ethnocentric--it makes heavy value judgements on different societies; with Western civilization seen as the most valuable.
- It assumes all cultures follow the same path or progression and have the same goals.
- It equates civilization with material culture (technology, cities, etc.)
- It equates evolution with progress or fitness, based on deep misunderstandings of evolutionary theory.
- It is greatly contradicted by evidence. Many (but not all) supposedly primitive societies are arguably more peaceful and equitable / democratic than many modern societies, and tend to be more healthy with regard to diet and ecology.
Naturally, because social evolution was posited as a scientific theory, it was often used to support unjust and often racist social practices--particularly colonialism, slavery, and the unequal economic conditions present within industrialized Europe. Social darwinism is especially criticised, as it lead to some philosophies used by the Nazis. Ethnocentrism (Greek ethnos nation + -centrism) is a set of beliefs or practices based on the view that ones own group is the center of everything. ...
For alternative meanings for The West in the United States, see the U.S. West and American West. ...
A civilization or civilisation has a variety of meanings related to human society. ...
In archaeology, culture refers to either of two separate but allied concepts: A material culture comprises physical objects from the past, the study of which is the basis of the discipline. ...
Charles Darwin, father of the theory of evolution by natural selection. ...
Progress can refer to: The idea of a process in which societies or individuals become better or more modern (technologically and/or socially). ...
Herbert Spencer coined the phrase survival of the fittest Survival of the fittest is a phrase which is a shorthand for a concept relating to competition for survival or predominance. ...
This article is about biological evolution. ...
Diet can refer to several things: The nutritional diet of an organism or group. ...
Ecology is sometimes used as an incorrect synonym for the natural environment. ...
An African-American drinks out of a water fountain marked for colored in 1939 at a street car terminal in Oklahoma City. ...
World map of colonialism circa 1945. ...
A monument celebrating the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire in 1834, erected in Victoria Tower Gardens, Millbank, Westminster, London Look up Slavery in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Slavery is a condition of control over a person against their will, enforced by violence or other forms of coercion. ...
A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ...
Social Darwinism is a social theory which holds that Darwins theory of evolution by natural selection affects not only the distribution of biological traits in a population, but that it affects human social institutions as well. ...
The Nazi party used a right-facing swastika as their symbol and the red and black colors were said to represent Blut und Boden (blood and soil). ...
Franz Boas is typically regarded as the leader of anthropology's rejection of social evolutionism, in the early part of the 20th century. As a result, modern anthropological approaches are careful to avoid ethnocentric speculation, comparisons, or value judgements; more or less regarding individual societies as existing within their own historical contexts. Franz Boas Franz Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 22, 1942) was one of the pioneers of modern anthropology and is often called the Father of American Anthropology. Like many such pioneers, he trained in other disciplines; he received his doctorate in physics, and did post-doctoral work in geography. ...
See Also Anthropology (from the Greek word άνθÏωπος = human) consists of the study of humankind (see genus Homo). ...
World map of colonialism circa 1945. ...
Cultural evolution is the structural change of a society and its values over time. ...
Social progress is defined as a progress of society, which makes this society better. ...
Origins of theory According to Czech philosopher Radovan Richta, in his 1967 publication “Man and Technology in the Revolution of Our Day”, technology (which he defines as “a material entity created by the application of mental and physical effort to nature in order to achieve some value”) evolves in three...
The White Mans Burden is a Eurocentric view of the world used to encourage powerful nations to adopt an imperial role. ...
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