Darwin i an ism (darwinianizm)

[ Darwinically (där-win'i-kal-i), adv. After the manner of Darwin; as a Darwin i an; in accordance with the Darwin i an doctrine of development. [Rare.] It is one thing to say, Darwinically , that every detail observed in an animal's structure is of use to it, or has been of use to its ancestors; and quite another to affirm, teleologically, that every detail of an animal's structure has been created for its benefit. Huxley , Lay Sermons, p. 304. Darwin ism (där'win-izm), n. [ Darwin (see def.) + -ism.] 1. The body of biological doetrine propounded and defended by the English naturalist Charles (Charles Robert) Darwin (1809-1882), especially in his works "The Origin of Species" (1859) and "The Descent of Man" (1871), respecting the origin of species. It is, in general, the theory that all forms of living organisms, including man, have been derived or evolved by descent, with modification of variation, from a few primitive forms life or one, during the struggle for existence of individual organisms, which results, through natural selection, in the survival of those least exposed, by reason of their organization or situation, to destruction. It is not to be confounded with the general views of the development or evolution of the visible order of nature which have been entertained by philosophers from the earliest times. (See evolution.) That which is specially and properly Darwin i an in the general theory of evolution relates to the manner, or methods, or means by which living organisms are developed or evolved from one another: namely, the inherent susceptibility and tendency to variation according to conditions of environment; the preservation and perfection of organs best suited to the needs of the individual in its struggle for existence; the perpetuation of the more favorably organized beings, and the destruction of those le fitted to survive; the operation of natural selection, in which sexual selection is an important factor; and the general proposition that at any given time any given organism represents the result of the foregoing factors, acting in opposition to the hereditary tendency to adhere to the type, or "breed true." See selection and survival. Darwin ism 2. Belief in and support of Darwin's theory. Also Darwin i an ism.