The Survival of the Happiest Who (Get to) Control the Resources and Procreation

Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution emphasized happiness and self-control as evolutionary signs of the superior human fitness found primarily among the British upper class males. Darwin’s promotion of sexist, racist, and colonialist views of human differences underlie his scientific observations of the role of emotions among both animals and humans. This chapter also introduces alternative theories to Darwin’s “survival of the fittest in control over procreation” emphasis, including Lamarck’s contextually-focused evolutionary theory and Kropotkin’s evolutionary emphasis on “mutual aid” and interdependence. Darwinist views on human differences and emotional states are connected to the development of subsequent versions of social Darwinism, eugenics, and other forms of ideological sciences.