Social and political influeces on the development of the theory of evolution?? (1 Viewer)

[Amy53]

QUESTION??
how have the social and political ideas affected the development and acceptance of the evolutionary explanation?????

this is a question that i can not really find that much information on..i wrote bout cartoons and stuff that were put out..like the one of Darwins head on a chimp ect..
if you have any info...plz...

 

[ari89]

There the whole creationism v naturalist argument going on today. E.g. In some states in America it is part of the syllabus to teach both creationism and evolution. By having both theories suggested it may create a balance that as none are scientifically proven to be correct, there is no reason to accept one of the other as accepted fact.

I think in Darwin's time there was a lot of criticism by people confused by the fact that Darwin would compare people to apes.

 

[.x.Cookie.x.]

It is one thing to discover and explain the workings of nature but the rest of society has to understand and accept it. Developing and understanding of how species evolve has been one of the greatest human intellectual endeavours throughout history.

This long journey of discovery took humans from considering themselves as the most magnificent of God's creations to just another species of animal and a very recent arrival of that. The problem with the scientific explanation for evolution is that it challenged foundations upon which western culture is based.

Western societies were goverend by religious institutions that controlled not only politics but also the way people viewed nature. The idea that God made 'man' in his image to rule over all other living things was indisputable. Therefore any challange to this idea was seen as a threat to the establishment.

Politics was centred around the beliefs of the church. Alternative explanations were against the dogma of the church; therefore they challenged the establishment.

Accepting an idea such as evolution of species required people, including scientists, to sort through many issues, including what science is, what religion is and why human society is organised in particular ways.