Darwinism
From ArticleWorld
Darwinism is a term utilized for the theories put forth by Charles Darwin about natural selection and evolution. Darwinism usually focuses on evolution by the theory of natural selection but at times is broadly applied to evolution.
Classical Darwinism
This term was first coined after the publication of Origin of Species. Darwinism was associated with philosophies dealing with evolution and connected to biology and society. The phrase survival of the fittest was also taken to be symbolic of Darwinism although this phrase was quoted from another philosopher Herbert Spencer and predated Darwinism. Darwinism was also argued by politically inclined individuals to be synonymous to the so-called struggle of individuals in the society. This is now referred to as Social Darwinism.
Selectionism
The meaning of Darwinism in the early days was used in association with many varying concepts. In order to get away from this loose terminology the advocates of evolution by natural selection called themselves neo-Darwinists. Evolution was considered to not be possible by the passing along of bodily modifications acquired during the life of an organism but by forms of selection. It was argued that all the hereditary material was separate from the rest of the organism's development. It was only after the development of the modern evolutionary synthesis in the 1930s that this perception became popular.
Darwinian processes
This process is thought to require self-replication, variation and selection. Self-replication is essential as this means new copies must inherit old traits and at times variations may be recombined in sexual reproduction. Variation allows for many traits in the population and a mechanism for the introduction of new traits. Selection infers that traits that are inherited must affect the ability of the organism to reproduce whether it is by survival or by the finding of mates in order to produce offspring. Darwinism purports that given these three conditions evolution is likely to occur.