Social Evolution

Benjamin Kidd

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511694004

In 1894, the British sociologist Benjamin Kidd published Social Evolution, an influential book that summarised and evaluated the prevailing social theories at the end of the nineteenth century: Karl Marx's socialism and Herbert Spencer's social Darwinism. Both of these conflicting theories were based on Darwinian evolutionary theory. In this book, Kidd discusses the immense changes that applied science has brought to the world and the interconnectedness of everyone. The book's ten chapters include discussions of the conditions of human progress, the function of religious beliefs, and the organisation of the working classes. Kidd found flaws in both Karl Marx's and Herbert Spencer's vision of society's future and concluded that religion was essential for the evolution of society because it acts in the interest of generational group survival rather than individual competition. Social Evolution called for a comprehensive study of society because a new era in Western civilisation was beginning.

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Social Evolution

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-iv

Contents
pp v-vi

CHAPTER I - THE OUTLOOK
pp 1-28

CHAPTER II - CONDITIONS OF HUMAN PROGRESS
pp 29-58

CHAPTER III - THERE IS NO RATIONAL SANCTION FOR THE CONDITIONS OF PROGRESS
pp 59-80

CHAPTER IV - THE CENTRAL FEATURE OF HUMAN HISTORY
pp 81-96

CHAPTER V - THE FUNCTION OF RELIGIOUS BELIEFS IN THE EVOLUTION OF SOCIETY
pp 97-117

CHAPTER VI - WESTERN CIVILISATION
pp 118-145

CHAPTER VII - WESTERN CIVILISATION (continued)
pp 146-192

CHAPTER VIII - MODERN SOCIALISM
pp 193-242

CHAPTER IX - HUMAN EVOLUTION IS NOT PRIMARILY INTELLECTUAL
pp 243-287

CHAPTER X - CONCLUDING REMARKS
pp 288-330

APPENDIX I
pp 331-334

APPENDIX II
pp 335-340

APPENDIX III
pp 341-348

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Social Evolution

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