The Descent of Man

brilliant, but no Origin

Descent of Man is undoubtedly a great work by a staggeringly original thinker. It is plagued by theoretical problems, however, as many of Darwin's conclusions are inaccurate and even self-contradictory. Compared to Origin of Species, a unified and directed argument, it is at times messy and inconsistent. Nonetheless, a brave work, not to mention seminal in its field. Be forewarned that some of its more 'political' statements will probably cause discomfort if the work isn't looked at as a historical document.

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a MUST Read

The sad thing about "the Descent of Man" is that it is not more widely read. Darwin had ten years to think about the real meaning of his theory prior to publishing "the Descent of Man", thus, when he did publish it, he was able, with clearlity, to give us a deep understanding of the meaning of his own work. Anyone who wishes to gain an understanding of Darwins work can get it straight from this book. It features athoritative statements from Darwin, on his theory, such as, "...man has ultimately become superior to woman" (Chapt. 19). It includes, while speaking about the meaning of Darwins theory, statements like, "At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilised races of man will almost certainly exterminate, and replace, the savage races throughout the world....The break between man in a more civilised state, as we may hope, even than the Caucasian, and some ape as low as baboon, instead of as now between the negro or Australian and the gorilla." (Chapter 6). In this book Darwin even tells us, on his own athorty, the real meaning of his work for the future of man when he states, " Yet he (man) might by selection do something not only for the bodily constitution and frame of his offspring, but for their intellectual and moral qualities. Both sexes ought to refrain from marraige if they are in any marked degree inferior in body or mind; but such hopes are Utopian and will never be even partially realised until the laws of inheritance are thouroughly known. Everyone does good service, who aids towards this end. When the priniciples of breeding and inheritance are better understood, we shall not hear ignorant members of our legislature rejecting with scorn a plan for ascertaining whether or not consanguineous marriages are injurious to ma." (Chapter 21). The book is loaded with such athoritative statements. The problem with Darwinsm today is not that some silly Christian bad mouths it, the problem with Darwinsm today is that not enough people read this book and learn for themselves what Darwin himself claimed to be the real meaning of his theory!

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