Social Darwinism Research Paper

218 Words1 Pages
The significance of this triad is that it is an example of scientific concepts being applied to society. Social Darwinism, popularized by Herbert Spencer, held that survival of the fittest applied not only to the animal kingdom but to societal institutions as well. Social Darwinism holds that if society is naturally evolving into its best form then human freedom is key and government was to be minimal. This idea of minimal government control came to be known as laissez-faire. Social Darwinism evolved into harvard professor William James’ pragmatism. Pragmatism holds that ideas hold their value not from any sort of axiom but from their practical applications. This was a natural progression because if the world functions best under natural selection