...social Darwinism...

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, naturalists began the colossal task of classification of animals and plants. In the nineteenth century, Charles Darwin's theory of the evolution of species led to a belief in the idea of a progression over time from primitive forms to more sophisticated forms. Some writers went on to develop a notion of 'social Darwinism' which was very influential - the idea that various human groupings represented a similar progression, culminating in the superior modern European.

Keywords: barbarism, Britain, Darwin, Charles, social theory

Author: Nettheim, Garth