Alfred Russel Wallace, Robert Owen and the theory of natural selection

Bibliographic Data

ID8395452
AuthorsGreta Jones (OGT Amenity (Ireland), corresponding author)
Year2002
Volume35
Issue1
Pages73-96
Publication date2002-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe British Journal for the History of Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0007-0874 • E-ISSN: 1474-001X
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0007087401004605
OpenAlexW2121564415
LanguageEN
Citations received5

Whereas there has been considerable debate about the social context of Darwin's theory of natural selection, much less focus has been placed upon Alfred Russel Wallace. This article looks at Wallace's socialism and, in particular, the influence upon his thought of the early nineteenth-century socialist Robert Owen. It argues that a case can be made for seeing Wallace's thought about nature and natural selection in the years up to 1858 in the context of Owenism. Three aspects of his thought are singled out for examination. These are, first, Wallace's views on the role of instinct in animal and human behaviour; second, the idea of colonization in human society and in nature; and third, a re-examination of the role of Malthus in Wallace's thought, emphasizing the influence upon him of the early nineteenth-century socialist critique of Malthusianism

Archaeology · Biology · Charles darwin · Context (archaeology · Darwin (ADL · Darwinism · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Focus (optics · Instinct · Natural (archaeology · Natural selection · Political science · Politics · Selection (genetic algorithm · Socialism · Sociology · Ecology · Evolution and Science Education · History · History of Science and Natural History · Law · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science

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