Editing Darwinism (section)

==Other 19th-century usage==
"Darwinism" soon came to stand for an entire range of evolutionary (and often revolutionary) philosophies about both biology and society. One of the more prominent approaches, summed in the 1864 phrase "[[survival of the fittest]]" by Herbert Spencer, later became emblematic of Darwinism even though Spencer's own understanding of evolution (as expressed in 1857) was more similar to that of [[Jean-Baptiste Lamarck]] than to that of Darwin, and predated the [[publication of Darwin's theory]] in 1859. What is now called "[[Social Darwinism]]" was, in its day, synonymous with "Darwinism"—the application of Darwinian principles of "struggle" to society, usually in support of anti-[[philanthropy|philanthropic]] political agenda. Another interpretation, one notably favoured by Darwin's half-cousin [[Francis Galton]], was that "Darwinism" implied that because natural selection was apparently no longer working on "civilized" people, it was possible for "inferior" strains of people (who would normally be filtered out of the [[gene pool]]) to overwhelm the "superior" strains, and voluntary corrective measures would be desirable—the foundation of [[eugenics]].

{{anchor|Darwinismus}}
In Darwin's day there was no rigid definition of the term "Darwinism", and it was used by opponents and proponents of Darwin's biological theory alike to mean whatever they wanted it to in a larger context. The ideas had international influence, and [[Ernst Haeckel]] developed what was known as ''Darwinismus'' in Germany, although, like Spencer's "evolution", Haeckel's "Darwinism" had only a rough resemblance to the theory of Charles Darwin, and was not centred on natural selection.<ref>Schmitt S. (2009). ''Haeckel: A German Darwinian?'' Comptes Rendus Biologies: 332: 110–118.</ref> In 1886, [[Alfred Russel Wallace]] went on a lecture tour across the United States, starting in New York and going via Boston, Washington, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska to California, lecturing on what he called "Darwinism" without any problems.<ref>{{cite episode |title=Evolution and Wonder: Understanding Charles Darwin |url=http://www.onbeing.org/program/evolution-and-wonder-understanding-charles-darwin/transcript/899#main_content |access-date=2015-11-16 |series=[[On Being|Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett]] |first1=Krista (host) |last1=Tippett |author-link1=Krista Tippett |first2=James |last2=Moore |author-link2=James Moore (biographer) |network=[[NPR]] |type=Transcript |airdate=5 February 2009 |archive-date=18 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151118040338/http://www.onbeing.org/program/evolution-and-wonder-understanding-charles-darwin/transcript/899#main_content |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In his book ''[[Darwinism (book)|Darwinism]]'' (1889), Wallace had used the term ''pure-Darwinism'' which proposed a "greater efficacy" for [[natural selection]].<ref>Wallace, Alfred Russel. (1889). [https://archive.org/stream/darwinismexposit00walluoft#page/n11/mode/2up ''Darwinism: An Exposition of the Theory of Natural Selection, with Some of Its Applications'']. Macmillan and Company.</ref><ref>Heilbron, John L. (2003). ''The Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science''. OUP USA. p. 203. {{ISBN|978-0195112290}}</ref> [[George Romanes]] dubbed this view as "Wallaceism", noting that in contrast to Darwin, this position was advocating a "pure theory of natural selection to the exclusion of any supplementary theory."<ref>Romanes, John George. (1906). [https://archive.org/stream/darwinafterdarwi02romabost#page/12/mode/2up "Darwin and After Darwin: An Exposition of the Darwinian Theory and a Discussion of Post-Darwinian Questions"]. ''Volume 2: Heredity and Utility''. The Open Court Publishing Company. p. 12</ref><ref>Costa, James T. (2014). ''Wallace, Darwin, and the Origin of Species''. Harvard University Press. p. 274. {{ISBN|978-0674729698}}</ref> Taking influence from Darwin, Romanes was a proponent of both natural selection and the [[inheritance of acquired characteristics]]. The latter was denied by Wallace who was a strict selectionist.<ref>Bolles, R. C; Beecher, M. D. (1987). ''Evolution and Learning''. Psychology Press. p. 45. {{ISBN|978-0898595420}}</ref> Romanes' definition of Darwinism conformed directly with Darwin's views and was contrasted with Wallace's definition of the term.<ref>Elsdon-Baker, F. (2008). ''Spirited dispute: the secret split between Wallace and Romanes''. Endeavour 32(2): 75–78</ref>