Annals of the History and Philosophy of Biology

46
Annals of the History and Philosophy of Biology, Vol. 10 (2005)
Eve-Marie Engels
of one’s own community as characteristic of the lowest stage of moral development. To
explain moral progress in the course of cultural history, Darwin adopts a groupselectionist
approach. Those tribes whose members provided mutual support were more
capable of surviving than were internally antagonistic groups, whom they ultimately
gained dominance over. This was a process which repeated itself many times in the course
of history, Darwin says (Darwin 1877, pg. 137). In this way, small tribes joined forces
to form larger communities so that the social instincts, including sympathy, gradually
expanded and became more complex, ultimately extending to unfamiliar members of the
community until the moral qualities which were required if social communities were to
function well gradually extended all over the world; Darwin seems convinced that this
process will continue into the future. This presupposes that the social instincts which
were originally only directed towards the well-being of an individual’s own community
weaken, however, placing human action to a stronger degree under the control of intellectual
faculties. As elucidated above, mental freedom is for Darwin a prerequisite of
morality.
For Darwin, “disinterested love for all living creatures” is “the most noble attribute
of man” (Darwin 1877, pg. 130), and in his optimistic vision of a far-off future, he assumes
that “virtue will be triumphant.” (Darwin ebd.). Time and again he emphasizes the
anticipated triumph of altruistic sympathy over instincts exclusively directed towards the
individual’s own community. 8
If we have finally succeeded in reaching a cultural or civilized state we cannot, Darwin
says, neglect the weak and the helpless without it leading to a deterioration of the
most noble part of human nature (Darwin 1877, pg. 139). Although in Darwin’s view
moral progress, as it manifests itself under the conditions of civilization, involving,
among other things, support of the diseased and the weak, can have negative consequences
for the human race, ethical considerations prevent us from withdrawing our
support for the needy. According to Darwin, intentional neglect of the diseased and the
weak for the benefit of the human race would be accompanied by a bestialization of
mankind and a deterioration of our moral sense. Our social virtues, he argues, have
formed in the course of a long and difficult developmental process and they require ongoing
cultivation if we want to avoid endangering the degree of moral progress we have
taken such trouble to achieve so far. Darwin’s high esteem of social virtues expresses
itself in his humanitarian sensibility, which was a tradition in the Darwin family.
On the other hand, Darwin sees a danger in allowing reproduction of the diseased
and the weak as this could lead to a biological degeneration of the human species if such
individuals were to pass on their weak constitution to future generations. With some
reluctance, Darwin advocates the protection and reproduction of the diseased and the
weak through the establishment of appropriate institutions (homes etc.), through poor
laws and medical progress, pointing out that in savage societies, bodily and mentally
handicapped individuals were soon excluded from the community, leaving those who
survived to enjoy very good health (Darwin 1877, pg. 139). But since the neglect of the
8 According to Wallace, Darwin’s observations on the future of mankind made in his last conversations with
him were of a more pessimistic vein (Wallace 1894, S. 10).