Scholarly Debate: A.N. Wilson's Biography Accuses Darwin of Intellectual Piracy and Flawed Morality
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Summary
This article discusses a new biography of Charles Darwin by A.N. Wilson that offers a "radical reappraisal" of Darwin, accusing him of intellectual piracy and scientific blundering. Wilson particularly criticizes Darwin's account of morality, claiming Darwin used concepts like the "struggle for existence" and "survival of the fittest" to defend an ethics derived from "selfish capitalist economics." The article appears to be a companion piece to a longer essay in the Journal of the History of Ideas, written by Greg Priest, and engages with the ongoing scholarly debate about Darwin's legacy and the evolution of morality.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledA new biography of Charles Darwin is coming out. Styled as a 'radical reappraisal,' the book, by A.N. Wilson, condemns Darwin, accusing him of intellectual piracy and scientific blundering.
Wilson reserves some of his harshest criticisms for Darwin's account of morality.
We are told that Darwin deployed his conceptions of the 'struggle for existence' and the 'survival of the fittest' to defend an ethics derived from 'selfish capitalist economics' that naturalized the...
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