History of Austro-Libertarian Thought: 384 BC – 2020 AD
Species are fixed. No evolution. "Only man can give rise to man."
Species are fixed. No evolution.
In the great chain of beings, living creatures "evolve" in easy steps, without chasms or gaps between species; in the process of ascending from animals to men each stage differs very little from the next one; properties of different species are partly variable and species can miscegenate and produce monsters or new species on occasion.
Organisms exhibit functionality of all their parts which is helpful in their preservation and propagation — this functionality is the result of a natural process; there is, therefore, an analogy between the origin of natural organisms and these social phenomena that are not the result of human design.
No mention.
The onset of human beings changed the nature of evolution, which need no longer be characterized by violent struggle.
The importance of the Darwinian theory and process of phylogenetic sifting of the gene pool via natural selection is downgraded; evolution is seen as ontogenetic development of organisms from their genetic make-up; socioeconomic evolution is Lamarckian and differs from the biological one by consisting in transmission of acquired characteristics.
The evolutionary theory is neither supported nor opposed, it is treated as a mere hypothesis; there is a qualitative gap between humans and animals due to man's rational faculty; however, humans may still be evolving from apes to Supermen (in whom rational faculty is the dominant trait) and live next to the sub-human "missing links" in whom rational faculty is inert.
Differences between humans (e.g., in intelligence) have biological basis and are partly hereditary; survival of the fittest is a meaningless tautology since in biology the fittest are these who have survived (so it reads: survival of these who have survived); luck plays a significant part in survival; for these reasons biology cannot be used as a standard for ethics.
The role of environmental challenges in the evolution of the human mind is stressed.