Editing Darwinism (section)

==Contemporary usage==
The term ''Darwinism'' is often used in the United States by promoters of [[creationism]], notably by leading members of the [[intelligent design movement]], as an epithet to attack evolution as though it were an ideology (an "[[-ism]]") based on [[philosophical naturalism]], [[atheism]], or both.<ref name="genie">[[#Petto & Godfrey 2007|Scott 2007]], "Creation Science Lite: 'Intelligent Design' as the New Anti-Evolutionism", p. [https://web.archive.org/web/20100603214827/http://biology.ucf.edu/~clp/Courses/seminar/papers/07-Scott-scientists_confront-cs_lite.pdf 72]</ref> For example, in 1993, [[University of California, Berkeley|UC Berkeley]] law professor and author [[Phillip E. Johnson]] made this accusation of atheism with reference to [[Charles Hodge#Darwinism|Charles Hodge]]'s 1874 book ''What Is Darwinism?''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.arn.org/docs/johnson/wid.htm |title=What is Darwinism? |last=Johnson |first=Phillip E. |author-link=Phillip E. Johnson |date=31 August 1996 |website=[[Access Research Network]] |location=Colorado Springs, CO |access-date=2007-01-04}} "This paper was originally delivered as a lecture at a symposium at Hillsdale College, in November 1992. Papers from the Symposium were published in the collection ''Man and Creation: Perspectives on Science and Theology'' (Bauman ed. 1993), by Hillsdale College Press, Hillsdale MI 49242."</ref> However, unlike Johnson, Hodge confined the term to exclude those like American botanist [[Asa Gray]] who combined Christian faith with support for Darwin's natural selection theory, before answering the question posed in the book's title by concluding: "It is Atheism."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theropps.com/papers/Winter1997/CharlesHodge.htm |title=Charles Hodge and His Objection to Darwinism: The Exclusion of Intelligent Design |last=Ropp |first=Matthew |website=theRopps.com |location=Chesterbrook, PA |access-date=2007-01-04}} Paper for CH506: American Church History, Dr. Nathan Feldmeth, Winter Quarter 1997, "written while a student in the School of World Mission at [[Fuller Theological Seminary]], Pasadena, California."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Hodge|1874}}</ref>

Creationists use pejoratively the term ''Darwinism'' to imply that the theory has been held as true only by Darwin and a core group of his followers, whom they cast as [[dogma]]tic and inflexible in their belief.<ref name=morrissullivan>{{cite journal |last=Sullivan |first=Morris |date=Spring 2005 |title=From the Beagle to the School Board: God Goes Back to School |url=http://www.impactpress.com/articles/spring05/sullivanspring05.html |journal=[[Impact Press]] |location=Orlando, FL |publisher=Loudmouth Productions |issue=56 |access-date=2008-09-18}}</ref> In the 2008 documentary film ''[[Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed]]'', which promotes [[intelligent design]] (ID), American writer and actor [[Ben Stein]] refers to scientists as Darwinists. Reviewing the film for ''[[Scientific American]]'', [[John Rennie (editor)|John Rennie]] says "The term is a curious throwback, because in modern biology almost no one relies solely on Darwin's original ideas ... Yet the choice of terminology isn't random: Ben Stein wants you to stop thinking of evolution as an actual science supported by verifiable facts and logical arguments and to start thinking of it as a dogmatic, atheistic ideology akin to [[Marxism]]."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Rennie |first=John  |author-link=John Rennie (editor) |date=9 April 2008 |title=Ben Stein's ''Expelled'': No Integrity Displayed |url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ben-steins-expelled-review-john-rennie/ |journal=[[Scientific American]] |location=Stuttgart |publisher=[[Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group]] |issn=0036-8733 |access-date=2015-11-16}}</ref>

However, ''Darwinism'' is also used neutrally within the scientific community to distinguish the [[modern evolutionary synthesis]], which is sometimes called "[[neo-Darwinism]]", from those first proposed by Darwin. ''Darwinism'' also is used neutrally by historians to differentiate his theory from other evolutionary theories current around the same period. For example, ''Darwinism'' may refer to Darwin's proposed mechanism of natural selection, in comparison to more recent mechanisms such as genetic drift and [[gene flow]]. It may also refer specifically to the role of Charles Darwin as opposed to others in the [[history of evolutionary thought]]—particularly contrasting Darwin's results with those of earlier theories such as [[Lamarckism]] or later ones such as the modern evolutionary synthesis.

In [[Politics of the United States|political discussions in the United States]], the term is mostly used by its enemies.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Constitutional Rights Foundation|url=https://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-19-2-b-social-darwinism-and-american-laissez-faire-capitalism.html|website=www.crf-usa.org|access-date=2020-05-25}}</ref> Biologist [[E. O. Wilson]] at [[Harvard University]] described the term as being "a rhetorical device to make evolution seem like a kind of faith, like '[[Maoism]] [...] Scientists don't call it 'Darwinism'."<ref>{{cite news |last=Adler |first=Jerry |date=28 November 2005 |title=Charles Darwin: Evolution of a Scientist |url=http://www.newsweek.com/evolution-scientist-113733 |work=[[Newsweek]] |location=New York |publisher=Newsweek LLC |volume=146 |issue=22 |pages=50–58 |issn=0028-9604 |access-date=2015-11-16}}</ref> In the [[United Kingdom]], the term often retains its positive sense as a reference to natural selection, and for example British [[Ethology|ethologist]] and evolutionary biologist [[Richard Dawkins]] wrote in his collection of essays ''[[A Devil's Chaplain]]'', published in 2003, that as a scientist he is a Darwinist.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.beliefnet.com/News/Science-Religion/2003/12/Religion-For-Dummies.aspx |title=Religion: For Dummies |last=Sheahen |first=Laura |website=[[Beliefnet]] |publisher=BN Media, LLC |location=Norfolk, VA |access-date=2015-11-16}}</ref>

In his 1995 book ''[[Darwinian Fairytales]]'', [[Australians|Australian]] philosopher [[David Stove]]<ref>{{harvnb|Stove|1995}}</ref> used the term "Darwinism" in a different sense from the above examples. Describing himself as non-religious and as accepting the concept of natural selection as a well-established fact, Stove nonetheless attacked what he described as flawed concepts proposed by some "Ultra-Darwinists". Stove alleged that by using weak or false ''[[ad hoc]]'' reasoning, these Ultra-Darwinists used evolutionary concepts to offer explanations that were not valid: for example, Stove suggested that the [[Sociobiology|sociobiological]] explanation of [[altruism]] as an evolutionary feature was presented in such a way that the argument was effectively immune to any criticism. English philosopher [[Simon Blackburn]] wrote a rejoinder to Stove,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Blackburn |first=Simon |author-link=Simon Blackburn |date=October 1996 |title=I Rather Think I Am a Darwinian |journal=[[Philosophy (journal)|Philosophy]] |location=Cambridge |volume=71 |number=278 |pages=605–616 |issn=0031-8191 |jstor=3751128 |doi=10.1017/s0031819100053523|s2cid=170606849 }}</ref> though a subsequent essay by Stove's protégé [[James Franklin (philosopher)|James Franklin]]<ref>{{cite journal |last=Franklin |first=James |author-link=James Franklin (philosopher) |date=January 1997 |title=Stove's Anti-Darwinism |url=http://web.maths.unsw.edu.au/~jim/stovesantidarwinism.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110228164839/http://web.maths.unsw.edu.au/~jim/stovesantidarwinism.pdf |archive-date=2011-02-28 |url-status=live |journal=Philosophy |location=Cambridge |volume=72 |number=279 |pages=133–136 |issn=0031-8191 |jstor=3751309 |doi=10.1017/s0031819100056692|s2cid=143421255 }}</ref> suggested that Blackburn's response actually "confirms Stove's central thesis that Darwinism can 'explain' anything."

In more recent times, the Australian [[moral philosopher]] and professor [[Peter Singer]], who serves as the Ira&nbsp;W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at [[Princeton University]], has proposed the development of a "Darwinian [[Left-wing politics|left]]" based on the contemporary scientific understanding of [[biological anthropology]], [[human evolution]], and [[applied ethics]] in order to achieve the establishment of a more [[Social equality|equal]] and cooperative human society in accordance with the sociobiological explanation of altruism.<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Singer |author-first=Peter |author-link=Peter Singer |year=2021 |orig-date=2010 |chapter=A Darwinian Left: Politics, Evolution, and Cooperation |editor-last=Ruse |editor-first=Michael |editor-link=Michael Ruse |title=Philosophy after Darwin: Classic and Contemporary Readings |location=[[Princeton, New Jersey]] and [[Woodstock, Oxfordshire]] |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |pages=343–349 |doi=10.1515/9781400831296-039 |isbn=9781400831296}}</ref>