Darwinian Evolution?

Question

I think we should ban the teachings of Darwin (from our public education system) based on his racism. This happened to other people before. What's your opinion?

Answer 1

Your statement is a simple ad hominem attack on evolution.  The theory of evolution is sound, so instead you attack the most well known name attached to it.  No matter how much you attack Darwin, it won't make evolution any less an important pillar of science.

What if I said we should ban teaching athletics and proper hygiene because of Hitler, who also believed in those things?  Ad hominem attacks, where you attack the person promoting the idea instead of the idea itself, are logical fallacies, often occurring when no logical attack on the idea can be made.  An idea should be judged based on its own merits, not based on the people who promote it.

Furthermore, everyone in Darwin's time was a racist, and Darwin was actually less of a racist than most were in his day.  Keep in mind that when "On the Origin of Species" was first published, neither women nor blacks were allowed to vote in the United States.  Historical context is important when judging people.

Finally, evolution does not promote racism, in fact, it promotes the idea that having a diverse genetic pool is a _good_ thing.  Also, in case you thought it was related, "social Darwinism" is lousy philosophy that has little to do with evolution or science.

Evolution has come a long way in the ~150 years since Darwin first published his book, and there is so much new information and added detail that it is no longer Darwin's theory alone, but a theory based on the work of millions of scientists around the world.  Banning such an important idea for such a poor reason is beyond mere foolishness, it would actually harm the progress of any country that tried to do so.

Answer 2

My opinion is that we should also ban the teaching of:

Chemistry

Physics

Mathematics

Philosophy

Literature

Geology

Psychology

Medicine

Sociology

Economics

because at some point in the past, there were people who promoted these ideas who said things that I don't agree with. In fact, let's not ever learn anything, because at some point there was also a bad person who learned it, and we don't want to be like the bad people! You don't want to be like the bad people, do you, sunfire?

In fact, sunfire, I think you're really onto something here. We shouldn't be promoting ANYTHING that Charles Darwin was associated with. We should also ban eating, sleeping, walking, and breathing, because Charles Darwin did all of those things too. After all, if you learn how to walk and breathe, you might become a RACIST like he was. All these things should be banned. Are you with me?

Answer 3

To me, Darwin was not a racist.  However, racist views sometimes emanated from his theories, but only from people who didn't understand them at the basic scientific levels.

For example, Hitler used the Darwinian theories to partially justify his philosophies.

Answer 4

What do the racial views of Charles Darwin have to do with the efficacy of his theory? If you're saying the theory is racist, I suggest you go back and read it again.

Answer 5

What's now accepted by the scientific world and being taught is the modern synthesis of genetics and evolution. Darwin's greatest contribution was the concept of natural selection and this is retained but there are no "teachings of Darwin" - the modern synthesis is not found in any of Darwin's books - we've moved past him by 150 years, I suggest you do too.