A Critique of Survival of the Fittest and the Human: a spiritual approach
Keywords:
Critique, Survival, Fittest, Human, spiritual, approach
Abstract
This article examines the relevance of the concept described since the 19th century as “survival of the fittest”. It does so in relation to the one human race, homo sapiens, and examines its application thereto from a spiritual point of view, in contrast to those theories based on forms of scientific materialism. It notes that much of the life, philosophy and practices in contemporary society still carry baggage derived from or reflective of this concept. When taken to the extreme or when applied with vigour, it can result in a great deal of human suffering and injustice. It argues that the thinking based on this concept is not inherent to the human condition but is the result of inculcation through life experiences and education, and can be changed by right education. The remedy, it argues, lies in a spiritual education, an education that postulates changes in thinking and practicestoemphasize our common spiritual links as one interdependent human race on one small planetary homeland.
References
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/survival-of-the-fittest
Keven Brown, Evolution &Baha’I Belief, (2001) Kalimat Press, 112.
Thomas Robert Malthus, 1766-1834.
Thomas Hobbes. “ Hobbes believed that it was human nature to be in a state of war, where every person was in a permanent state of conflict with every other person for the limited resources available “ (Stephen Olynyk, “ Convenient Fictions: A Comparisonand Critical Analysisof Hobbes’ and Locke’s Social Contract Theories”, The Western Australian Jurist Vol. 1, 2010 132). Hobbes stated that existence was “bellum omnium contra omnes”.
Jean J Rousseau. “One day in 1749, at age 37, while walking to the Bastille to see his imprisoned friend, the major Enlightenment-era philosopher, Diderot, Rousseau saw an ad for an essay contest, hosted by the Academy of Dijon, asking a simple question: has science made us better or worse, more or less moral?As Rousseau tells it, he fell asleep in the park, had a vision, awoke in tears, and started to write hisDiscourse on the Sciences and Arts.He won the contest, instantly rose to fame, and forever changed the way humans see what it means to be human.His basic thesis: man is naturally good, and anything that is not natural has corrupted us from this natural state.”
Smithsonian’s Human Origins,
Ibid.
Abdu’l-Baha, talk recorded in The Promulgation of Universal Peace, (7 November 1912 at Washington DC), Baha’i Publishing Trust, 400..The seriously violent conduct of some more modern leaders and combatants might perhaps also warrant this same description.
Old Testament, Leviticus 24:17-22. A similar approach is taken in the Holy Quran 5:45.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’[But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.” (New Testament, St Matthew 5:38-40)
New Testament, St Matthew 5:43-48.
Although animals are generally only aggressive when they have a need to be as a matter of survival. Some humans have shown a propensity for aggression and self interested actions even where there is no need for it.Abdu’l-Baha wrote: “Ferocity has characterized men even more than animals. The lion, tiger, bear and wolf are ferocious because of their needs. Unless they are fierce, cruel and unrelenting, they will die of starvation. The lion cannot graze; its teeth are fitted only for food of flesh. This is also true of other wild animals. Ferocity is natural to themas their means of subsistence; but human ferocity proceeds from selfishness, greed and oppression. It springs from no natural necessity.” (`Abdu'l-Baha, talk recorded in ThePromulgation of Universal Peace,(6 May 1912 at Cleveland, Ohio),103)
http://www.literaturepage.com/read/darwin-origin-of-species-66.html
Darwin, The Descent of Man (1871) Ch. XXI.
Keltner stated“We so often assume both in the scientific community, and in our culture at large, that Darwin thought humans were violent and competitive and self-interested in their natural state. That is a misrepresentation of what Darwin actually believed, and where the evolutionary study of human goodness is going.”- in conversation with DavidDisalvo, Forget Survival of the Fittest: It Is Kindness That Counts,
T Huxley, Man's Place in Nature, (1863) Ch.2, p. 129.
Herbert Spencer, Principles of Biology (1864)
Frans de Waal, The Age of Empathy, Souvenir Press, (2009),28.
J E Esslemont, Baha’u’llah and the New Era,(1923), Baha’i Publishing Trust, 147.
Gavin de Beer, A Handbook on Evolution , Trustees of the British Museum, 1970, 21.
Paul Glumaz,The Hideous Revolution: The British Malthusian,
Andrew Carnegie, The Gospel of Wealth, No. CCCXCI, (June, 1889). To be fair, Carnegie was a great benefactor with his wealth.
The legislatures in many countries have found it necessary to legislatively intervene to outlaw the worst excesses of the free market in relation to such things as monopolies and combines, restrictive and dishonest trade practices, etc.
Wikipedia,/
The Belhar Confession has its roots in the struggle against apartheid in southern Africa. It was first drafted in 1982 by the Dutch Reformed Mission Church, now the new Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa, and formally adopted in 1986.
Ernst M. Conradie, “The Christian faith and evolution: An evolving, unresolved debate”, Verbum et Ecclesia 39(1), (June 2018)
Eg: Robert Axelrod, The Evolution of Cooperation, (1984) Basic Books, Chapters 5 and 7; Michael Karlberg, Beyond the Culture of Contest,(2004), George Ronald.
Peter Kropotkin,Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution, (1902)
Martin Luther King, speech “A Knock at Midnight” (14 September 1958)
Abdu’l-Baha (1844-1921), the eldest son of the Founder/Prophet of the Faith, Baha’u’llah, and whose writings are regarded as part of the corpus of the Baha’i sacred writings, specifically uses the term “survival of the fittest” in theearly 20thcentury – see Divine Philosophy(1918), 12.He also mentioned the topic by name in some of His talks,reproduced in The Promulgation of Universal Peace, Baha’i Publishing Trust (8 October 1912 at Leland Stanford Junior UniversityPalo Alto, California) at 353, and (7 November 1912, talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur J. Parsons, Washington, D.C), at 400.
Letter by Abdu’l-Baha, provisional translation by Keven Brown, Lawh-i-Tan‡zu'-iBaq, cited in Evolution & Baha’i Belief, (2001) Kalimat Press, at 112-114.
Universal House of Justice, The Promise of World Peace, (1985) Baha’i Publishing Trust.
Baha’u’llah (1819 – 1892) is regarded by Baha’is as the Manifestation of God for this age and the Promised One of all the great religions.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, talk recorded in “The Promulgation of Universal Peace”, Baha’i Publishing Trust (20 April 1912 at Washington DC), 35.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, talk recorded in “The Promulgation of Universal Peace”, Baha’i Publishing Trust (25 September 1912 at Denver, Colorado), 338.
India: Transforming economic structures to build a more caring society, (8 January, 2025),
Universal House of Justice, The Promise of World Peace (1985) Baha’i Publishing Trust, 28
J E Esslemont, Baha’u’llah and the New Era, Baha’i Publishing Trust, (1923), 150. He was an early Baha’i.
Abdu'l-Baha, talk recorded in The Promulgation of Universal Peace, Baha’i Publishing Trust, (28 May 1912 at New York), 150.
The Baha’i World, in Social Basis of World Unity, 21 April 1946,
Keven Brown, Evolution &Baha’I Belief, (2001) Kalimat Press, 112.
Thomas Robert Malthus, 1766-1834.
Thomas Hobbes. “ Hobbes believed that it was human nature to be in a state of war, where every person was in a permanent state of conflict with every other person for the limited resources available “ (Stephen Olynyk, “ Convenient Fictions: A Comparisonand Critical Analysisof Hobbes’ and Locke’s Social Contract Theories”, The Western Australian Jurist Vol. 1, 2010 132). Hobbes stated that existence was “bellum omnium contra omnes”.
Jean J Rousseau. “One day in 1749, at age 37, while walking to the Bastille to see his imprisoned friend, the major Enlightenment-era philosopher, Diderot, Rousseau saw an ad for an essay contest, hosted by the Academy of Dijon, asking a simple question: has science made us better or worse, more or less moral?As Rousseau tells it, he fell asleep in the park, had a vision, awoke in tears, and started to write hisDiscourse on the Sciences and Arts.He won the contest, instantly rose to fame, and forever changed the way humans see what it means to be human.His basic thesis: man is naturally good, and anything that is not natural has corrupted us from this natural state.”
Smithsonian’s Human Origins,
Ibid.
Abdu’l-Baha, talk recorded in The Promulgation of Universal Peace, (7 November 1912 at Washington DC), Baha’i Publishing Trust, 400..The seriously violent conduct of some more modern leaders and combatants might perhaps also warrant this same description.
Old Testament, Leviticus 24:17-22. A similar approach is taken in the Holy Quran 5:45.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’[But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.” (New Testament, St Matthew 5:38-40)
New Testament, St Matthew 5:43-48.
Although animals are generally only aggressive when they have a need to be as a matter of survival. Some humans have shown a propensity for aggression and self interested actions even where there is no need for it.Abdu’l-Baha wrote: “Ferocity has characterized men even more than animals. The lion, tiger, bear and wolf are ferocious because of their needs. Unless they are fierce, cruel and unrelenting, they will die of starvation. The lion cannot graze; its teeth are fitted only for food of flesh. This is also true of other wild animals. Ferocity is natural to themas their means of subsistence; but human ferocity proceeds from selfishness, greed and oppression. It springs from no natural necessity.” (`Abdu'l-Baha, talk recorded in ThePromulgation of Universal Peace,(6 May 1912 at Cleveland, Ohio),103)
http://www.literaturepage.com/read/darwin-origin-of-species-66.html
Darwin, The Descent of Man (1871) Ch. XXI.
Keltner stated“We so often assume both in the scientific community, and in our culture at large, that Darwin thought humans were violent and competitive and self-interested in their natural state. That is a misrepresentation of what Darwin actually believed, and where the evolutionary study of human goodness is going.”- in conversation with DavidDisalvo, Forget Survival of the Fittest: It Is Kindness That Counts,
T Huxley, Man's Place in Nature, (1863) Ch.2, p. 129.
Herbert Spencer, Principles of Biology (1864)
Frans de Waal, The Age of Empathy, Souvenir Press, (2009),28.
J E Esslemont, Baha’u’llah and the New Era,(1923), Baha’i Publishing Trust, 147.
Gavin de Beer, A Handbook on Evolution , Trustees of the British Museum, 1970, 21.
Paul Glumaz,The Hideous Revolution: The British Malthusian,
Andrew Carnegie, The Gospel of Wealth, No. CCCXCI, (June, 1889). To be fair, Carnegie was a great benefactor with his wealth.
The legislatures in many countries have found it necessary to legislatively intervene to outlaw the worst excesses of the free market in relation to such things as monopolies and combines, restrictive and dishonest trade practices, etc.
Wikipedia,
The Belhar Confession has its roots in the struggle against apartheid in southern Africa. It was first drafted in 1982 by the Dutch Reformed Mission Church, now the new Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa, and formally adopted in 1986.
Ernst M. Conradie, “The Christian faith and evolution: An evolving, unresolved debate”, Verbum et Ecclesia 39(1), (June 2018)
Eg: Robert Axelrod, The Evolution of Cooperation, (1984) Basic Books, Chapters 5 and 7; Michael Karlberg, Beyond the Culture of Contest,(2004), George Ronald.
Peter Kropotkin,Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution, (1902)
Martin Luther King, speech “A Knock at Midnight” (14 September 1958)
Abdu’l-Baha (1844-1921), the eldest son of the Founder/Prophet of the Faith, Baha’u’llah, and whose writings are regarded as part of the corpus of the Baha’i sacred writings, specifically uses the term “survival of the fittest” in theearly 20thcentury – see Divine Philosophy(1918), 12.He also mentioned the topic by name in some of His talks,reproduced in The Promulgation of Universal Peace, Baha’i Publishing Trust (8 October 1912 at Leland Stanford Junior UniversityPalo Alto, California) at 353, and (7 November 1912, talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur J. Parsons, Washington, D.C), at 400.
Letter by Abdu’l-Baha, provisional translation by Keven Brown, Lawh-i-Tan‡zu'-iBaq, cited in Evolution & Baha’i Belief, (2001) Kalimat Press, at 112-114.
Universal House of Justice, The Promise of World Peace, (1985) Baha’i Publishing Trust.
Baha’u’llah (1819 – 1892) is regarded by Baha’is as the Manifestation of God for this age and the Promised One of all the great religions.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, talk recorded in “The Promulgation of Universal Peace”, Baha’i Publishing Trust (20 April 1912 at Washington DC), 35.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, talk recorded in “The Promulgation of Universal Peace”, Baha’i Publishing Trust (25 September 1912 at Denver, Colorado), 338.
India: Transforming economic structures to build a more caring society, (8 January, 2025),
Universal House of Justice, The Promise of World Peace (1985) Baha’i Publishing Trust, 28
J E Esslemont, Baha’u’llah and the New Era, Baha’i Publishing Trust, (1923), 150. He was an early Baha’i.
Abdu'l-Baha, talk recorded in The Promulgation of Universal Peace, Baha’i Publishing Trust, (28 May 1912 at New York), 150.
The Baha’i World, in Social Basis of World Unity, 21 April 1946,
Published
2025-08-12
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