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Origins of the myth of social Darwinism: The ambiguous legacy of Richard Hofstadter's Social Darwinism in American Thought

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  • Leonard, Thomas C.

Abstract

The term "social Darwinism" owes its currency and many of its connotations to Richard Hofstadter's influential Social Darwinism in American Thought, 1860-1915 (SDAT). The post-SDAT meanings of "social Darwinism" are the product of an unresolved Whiggish tension in SDAT: Hofstadter championed economic reform over free markets, but he also condemned biology in social science, this while many progressive social scientists surveyed in SDAT offered biological justifications for economic reform. As a consequence, there are, in effect, two Hofstadters in SDAT. The first (call him Hofstadter1) disparaged as "social Darwinism" biological justification of laissez-faire, for this was, in his view, doubly wrong. The second Hofstadter (call him Hofstadter2) documented, however incompletely, the underside of progressive reform: racism, eugenics and imperialism, and even devised a term for it, "Darwinian collectivism." This essay documents and explains Hofstadter's ambivalence in SDAT, especially where, as with Progressive Era eugenics, the "two Hofstadters" were at odds with each other. It explores the historiographic and semantic consequences of Hofstadter's ambivalence, including its connection with the Left's longstanding mistrust of Darwinism as apology for Malthusian political economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Leonard, Thomas C., 2009. "Origins of the myth of social Darwinism: The ambiguous legacy of Richard Hofstadter's Social Darwinism in American Thought," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 37-51, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:71:y:2009:i:1:p:37-51
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    1. Thomas C. Leonard, 2003. "“More Merciful and Not Less Effective†: Eugenics and American Economics in the Progressive Era," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 35(4), pages 687-712, Winter.
    2. Niman, Neil B., 1991. "Biological Analogies in Marshall's Work," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(1), pages 19-36, April.
    3. William Coleman, 2001. "The Strange 'Laissez Faire' of Alfred Russel Wallace: The Connection between Natural Selection and Political Economy Reconsidered," Chapters, in: John Laurent & John Nightingale (ed.), Darwinism and Evolutionary Economics, chapter 3, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Thomas C. Leonard, 2005. "Retrospectives: Eugenics and Economics in the Progressive Era," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(4), pages 207-224, Fall.
    5. Kropotkin, Petr, 1902. "Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number kropotkin1902.
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    3. Geoffrey M. Hodgson, 2024. "Social Darwinism Revisited: How four critics altered the meaning of a near-obsolete term, greatly increased its usage, and thereby changed social science," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 34(2), pages 403-427, April.
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    5. Bragues, George & Assistant, JHET, 2021. "Herbert Spencer's Case for Free Banking," OSF Preprints w2gqs, Center for Open Science.
    6. Nick Cowen, 2018. "Mill’s radical end of laissez-faire: A review essay of the political economy of progress: John Stuart Mill and modern radicalism," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 31(3), pages 373-386, September.
    7. J. Barkley Rosser, 2014. "Natural Selection versus Emergent Self-Organization in Evolutionary Political Economy," Advances in Austrian Economics, in: Entangled Political Economy, volume 18, pages 67-91, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
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    9. Wilson, David Sloan & Gowdy, John M., 2013. "Evolution as a general theoretical framework for economics and public policy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 90(S), pages 3-10.
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