University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 1-1-1996 Confusion and cohesion in emerging sciences : Darwin, Wallace, and social Darwinism. Edward S. Rayher University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1 Recommended Citation Rayher, Edward S., "Confusion and cohesion in emerging sciences : Darwin, Wallace, and social Darwinism." (1996). Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014. 2292. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1/2292 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. c 315Dt.bDmiS5 JflO CONFUSION AND COHESION IN EMERGING SCIENCES DARWIN , WALLACE, AND SOCIAL DARWINISM A Dissertation Presented by EDWARD S. RAYHER Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY September 1996 Department of Philosophy (cT) Copyright by Edward S. Rayher 1996 All Rights Reserved CONFUSION AND COHESION IN EMERGING SCIENCES DARWIN , WALLACE, AND SOCIAL DARWINISM A Dissertation Presented by EDWARD S. RAYHER Approved as to style and content by: fcwr K- 4-tu- 1 Robert J f . Ackermann, Chair Stan Rachootin, Member Robison, Department Head For Alfred Russel Wallace, if his spirit still likes to read. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Special thanks are due to Bob Ackermann for his patience and guidance. The Alternate Track also deserves thanks for making my stay at the University interesting and productive. I also wish to give credit to Val Dusek, who gave pertinent criticism of a draft of this work. v ABSTRACT CONFUSION AND COHESION IN EMERGING SCIENCES: DARWIN , WALLACE, AND SOCIAL DARWINISM SEPTEMBER 1996 EDWARD S. RAYHER, B.A., UNION COLLEGE M.A., McGILL UNIVERSITY M.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST M.F.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Ph . D . , UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Robert J. Ackermann The thesis of this dissertation is that not only was Darwin the first Social Darwinist, but that only through appreciation of the roles of confusion, metaphysics, the social and political context, and the work of Alfred Russel Wallace can a better understanding of Darwin's achievement be accomplished. By revealing and then analyzing the Social Darwinist aspects of Darwin's science of transmutation the position of most critics —who hold that Darwin's Social Darwinist followers perverted his "pure" science--is debunked. Darwin's development of a race war theory was done for scientific reasons which cannot be stripped away to reveal his a non-political "core" without utterly transforming ranking ideas. For instance, Darwin developed a biological vi of indigenous peoples which helped fill in evidential gaps for the theory of evolution as well as provide confirmation for his radical form of reductive materialism. Darwin's Social Darwinism has been noticed by a few critics , but is usually dismissed as either ephemeral or indicative of commonly-held "backround" political biases. The first view is shown to be inadequate by revelation of the deep relation of his metaphysics to his science. The second is exploded through an examination of the work of Alfred Russel Wallace. He opposed Darwin's concept of race war, and his opposition was rooted in his commitment to an emergentist metaphysics. Once the juxtaposition of the social and political aspects of Wallace's work to that of Darwin is provided, the wider context of their work is revealed by an examination of Darwin's use of Malthus, the politics of emerging professional classes, Victorian birth control, and the work of T.H. Huxley. Revelation of the intimate social and political details of the scientific work of Darwin and Wallace helps to create an understanding of how nineteenth century science was constituted and demonstrates that the particular historical relations of science and ideology make the concept of "pure science" an oxymoron. Vll TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v ABSTRACT LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xi Chapter I. INTRODUCTION 1 A. Organization 6 II. DARWIN WAS A SOCIAL DARWINIST 13 A. Pure Science, Politics and History .... 13 B. Darwin and Social Darwinism 19 1. Haeckel's discovery of love at the atomic level 34 2. Natives and the ranking of species . 66 C. Progress, Craniometries and Race 72 1. Negroes, women, and sympathy .... 90 D. Scientific Origins of Scientific Racism . 119 E. Conclusion to Chapter Two 136 F. Chapter II Notes 144 III. ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE: CRITIC of SOCIAL DARWINISM 155 A. Wallace's Work in the Darwinian Context . 155 1. Wallace's life 156 2. The politics of Victorian evolutionary science 154 B. Natives and the Continuity Question. • 168 1. Interaction with Natives 175 2. Slaves, cannibals, society and technology I"78 3. "Necessary" extinction and progress . 195 4. Decoupling Social Darwinism: the emergence of politics 204 viii C. Capital, Imperialism and Race 219 1. Workers and Natives 228 2. Eugenics 237 3. Power to women 244 D. "Man's" Place in Nature 254 1. Wallace's break with Darwin 257 2. Human qualities 273 3. Spiritualism, phrenology and craniometries 284 E. Conclusion to Chapter Three 312 F. Chapter III Notes 322 IV. THE WIDER SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CONTEXT OF DARWINISM 333 A. Malthus: a Stick to Beat the Poor With. 333 1. The political context of Malthus' essay. 344 2. Professionals and birth control . 358 3. Biology and politics 368 B. Darwin's Circle 369 C. Conclusion to Chapter Four 390 D. Chapter IV Notes 394 V. CONCLUSION 399 BIBLIOGRAPHY 407 IX LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Vogt's Neanderthal Data . 93 2. Vogt's Craniomet r ic Data . 100 3. Sympathy Schema .110 x LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Illustration Page 1. Portrait of Charles Darwin, age 72 . .18 2. Photogravure of Ernst Haeckel 33 3. Engraving of Ernst Haeckel 52 4. Three skulls by Carl Vogt 89 5. Portrait of Carl Vogt. Reproduction of the 1 frontispiece of Vie d un Homme / Carl Vogt by William Vogt 95 6. Drawing of Carl Vogt. From Vie d ' un Homme / Carl Vogt , facing page 176 102 7. Radiolaria 119 8. Portrait of Alfred Russel Wallace . .155 9. Maps of Wallace's route through the Amazon .159 10. Map of Wallace's routes through the Malay Archipelago 170 11. Map of Darwin's voyage 171 12. Map of Darwin's inland travel from August to December 1833 172 13. Map of Darwin's inland travel from March to July 1835 173 14. Engraving of Robert Owen 221 15. Engraving of New Lanark 222 16. Malay frontispiece, tenth edition . .318 17. Malay frontispiece, first edition . .319 18. Portrait of Malthus. Frontispiece from .334 Ma 1 thus and his Work , by James Bonar. 19. Portrait of T.H. Huxley 370 xi 20 . Map of Huxley's voyage . .371 21. HMS Rattlesnake 379 22. Figurehead of the Rattlesnake 380 xii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION When not denied entirely, the social and political dimensions of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution have been seen by many as categorically separate from his scientific enterprise. Yet it is remarkably easy to show that Darwin was the first Social Darwinist and various authors have already provided sufficient evidence for the view that Darwinism was social at its inception. However little headway has been made in reforming the generally held view of Darwin as a "pure" (non-political and non- ideological) scientist or in understanding his doctrine of Natural Selection as essentially Social Darwinist. This result stems from a failure to recognize and appreciate the unity of Darwin's scientific and social ideas. ("Social Darwinism" and "Natural Selection" are capitalized in order to emphasize the historical particularity of Darwin's version of the survival of the fittest doctrine, and to separate it somewhat from more contemporary versions.) This dissertation will reveal Darwin's ideology by examining some major social and political aspects of his scientific work and then put this augmented understanding into perspective through juxtaposition with the work of Alfred Russel Wallace. Finally, through an examination of 1 the wider social and political context in terms of the Malthusian approach to class relations, the professionalization of the medical trade and the politics of birth control, the work of Darwin and Wallace will assume their proper places in Victorian science. Only through an understanding of the complicated relationship of science and society in its concrete details will a better understanding of the scientific enterprise be achieved. The work of Alfred Russel Wallace is important not only because he was the co-discoverer of Natural Selection and worked closely with Darwin to defend the new science from its detractors, but also in terms of its contrasting scientific, social and political bias. Wallace's work gives a useful local perspective on Darwin's project from within Victorian evolutionary biology. Yet despite good work by a few scholars showing various social and political presences within Darwin's writings, the vast majority of critical works boldly assert Darwin was no Social Darwinist. In cases where Darwin's social and political dimensions are too obvious to be ignored, cornered critics often dismiss this appearance as merely an aspect of commonly held ideology and therefore of little moment. Given Darwin's importance in the history and philosophy of science it is not difficult to comprehend why his image has so far resisted the wrinkles of his particular story. Darwin is truly one of the giants of modern science and has for many symbolized what is best in 2 science. The widespread success of Stephen Jay Gould's popularization of Darwin's work attests to the appreciation of Darwin even beyond the confines of biologists and university intellectuals.