Editing Evolutionism

{{Short description|Derogatory term for the theory of evolution}}
{{About|the term|the field/s of study|Evolutionary biology#Subfields}}
[[File:Charles_Darwin_1880.jpg | thumb | right | alt=Monochrome photo of Charles Darwin, he appears to be an older middle aged man with a neutral expression, light skin, wrinkles under his deep set but fairly wide open eyes, and a chest length white beard extending up to his temples. He is wearing a hat with a rounded top, a medium width brim and a cloth band, his shoulders which are the only part of his body beyond head in frame seem are covered by a dark, apparently black, top of unclear cut. The background behind him is non-descript, possibly a plaster wall | Charles Darwin, whose On the Origin of Species introduced the theory of evolution to society at large, photographed in 1881]]
'''Evolutionism''' is a term used (often derogatorily) to denote the [[theory of evolution]]. Its exact meaning has changed over time as the study of evolution has progressed. In the 19th century, it was used to describe the belief that organisms deliberately improved themselves through progressive inherited change ([[orthogenesis]]).<ref name="isbn0-550-11000-3" /><ref>{{cite book | last=Carneiro | first=Robert, L. | title=Evolutionism in cultural anthropology : a critical history | publisher=Westview Press | location=Cambridge, MA | year=2003 | isbn=978-0-8133-3766-1 | pages=2–3}}</ref> The [[teleological]] belief went on to include [[cultural evolution]] and [[Sociocultural evolution|social evolution]].<ref name="isbn0-550-11000-3">{{cite book |author1=Allen, R. T. |author2=Allen, Robert W. |title=Chambers encyclopedic English dictionary |publisher=Chambers |location=Edinburgh |year=1994 |page=438 |isbn=978-0-550-11000-8 |quote=a widely held 19c belief that organisms were intrinsically bound to improve themselves, that changes were progressive, and that acquired characters could be transmitted genetically. The belief was also extended to cultures and societies, and to living organisms. }}</ref> In the 1970s, the term "Neo-Evolutionism" was used to describe the idea that "human beings sought to preserve a familiar style of life unless change was forced on them by factors that were beyond their control."<ref>[[Bruce Trigger|Trigger, Bruce]]  (1986) ''A History of Archeological Thought'' Cambridge University Press pg 290</ref>

The term is most often used by [[creationist]]s to describe adherence to the scientific consensus on evolution as equivalent to a [[secular religion]].<ref name="Ruse">{{cite journal|url=http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/299/5612/1523|title=Perceptions in science: Is Evolution a Secular Religion? -- Ruse|author=Ruse, Michael|author-link=Michael Ruse|date=March 2003|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|volume=299 |issue=5612 |pages=299 (5612): 1523|doi=10.1126/science.1082968 |pmid=12624249 |access-date=2008-12-05|quote=A major complaint of the Creationists, those who are committed to a Genesis-based story of origins, is that evolution--and Darwinism in particular--is more than just a scientific theory. They object that too often evolution operates as a kind of secular religion, pushing norms and proposals for proper (or, in their opinion, improper) action.|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The term is very seldom used within the scientific community, since the scientific position on evolution is accepted by the overwhelming majority of scientists.<ref>"Nearly all scientists (97%) say humans and other living things have evolved over time", [http://people-press.org/reports/pdf/528.pdf Public Praises Science; Scientists Fault Public, Media] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091108193045/http://people-press.org/reports/pdf/528.pdf |date=2009-11-08 }}, [[Pew Research Center]], 9 July 2009</ref> Because evolutionary biology is the default scientific position, it is assumed that "scientists" or "biologists" are "evolutionists" unless specifically noted otherwise.<ref name="Dichotomy">{{cite web |url=http://ncse.com/cej/4/2/supposed-dichotomy-between-creationism-evolution |title=The Supposed Dichotomy between Creationism and Evolution |author= Gough, J. B. |work=NCSE |year=1983 |publisher=[[National Center for Science Education]] |access-date=2009-09-24}} "...to say a person is a scientist encompasses the fact that he or she is an evolutionist."</ref> In the [[creation–evolution controversy]], creationists often call those who accept the validity of the modern evolutionary synthesis "evolutionists" and the theory itself "evolutionism".

==19th-century teleological use ==
Before its use to describe biological evolution, the term "evolution" was originally used to refer to any orderly sequence of events with the outcome somehow contained at the start.<ref name=Carneiro>Carneiro, Robert L.(Léonard) (2003) ''Evolutionism in cultural anthropology: a critical history'' Westview Press pg 1-3</ref> The first five editions of Darwin's in ''Origin of Species'' used the word "evolved", but the word "evolution" was only used in its sixth edition in 1872.<ref name="penguin origin">{{cite book|last=Darwin|first=Charles|title=The Origin of Species|year=1986|publisher=Penguin Classics|location=Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England|isbn=978-0-14-043205-3|edition=reprint of 1st|editor=Burrow, JW|page=460|quote=...from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, ''evolved'' (italics not in original)|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/originofspecies000darw}}</ref> By then, [[Herbert Spencer]] had developed the concept theory that organisms strive to evolve due to an internal "driving force" ([[orthogenesis]]) in 1862.<ref name=Carneiro/>  Edward B. Tylor and Lewis H Morgan brought the term "evolution" to anthropology though they tended toward the older pre-Spencerian definition helping to form the concept of [[unilineal evolution|unilineal (social) evolution]] used during the later part of what Trigger calls the Antiquarianism-Imperial Synthesis period (c1770-c1900).<ref>Trigger, Bruce (1986) ''A History of Archaeological Thought'' Cambridge University Press pg 102</ref> The term evolutionism subsequently came to be used for the now discredited theory that evolution contained a deliberate component, rather than the selection of [[Beneficial mutation|beneficial traits]] from [[Genetic variation|random variation]] by [[Survival of the fittest|differential survival]].

==Modern use by creationists==
The term ''[[evolution]]'' is widely used, but the term ''evolutionism'' is not used in the [[scientific community]] to refer to [[evolutionary biology]] as it is redundant and anachronistic.<ref name="Dichotomy"/>

However, the term has been used by creationists in discussing the [[creation–evolution controversy]].<ref name="Dichotomy" /> For example, the [[Institute for Creation Research]], in order to imply placement of evolution in the category of 'religions', including [[atheism]], [[fascism]], [[humanism]] and [[occultism]], commonly uses the words ''evolutionism'' and ''evolutionist'' to describe the consensus of mainstream science and the scientists subscribing to it, thus implying through language that the issue is a matter of religious belief.<ref name="ICRMuseum">{{cite web|url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/icr-visit/linke.html|title=A Visit to the ICR Museum|author=Linke, Steven|date=August 28, 1992|publisher=[[TalkOrigins Archive]]|access-date=2008-12-05|quote=In fact, true science supports the Biblical worldview... However, science does not support false religions (e.g. atheism, evolutionism, pantheism, humanism, etc.)}}</ref> The [[BioLogos Foundation]], an organization that promotes the idea of [[theistic evolution]], uses the term "evolutionism" to describe "the atheistic worldview that so often accompanies the acceptance of biological evolution in public discourse." It views this as a subset of [[scientism]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://biologos.org/questions/biologos-id-creationism|title=How is BioLogos different from Evolutionism, Intelligent Design, and Creationism|publisher=The BioLogos Foundation|quote= While BioLogos accepts evolution, it emphatically rejects evolutionism, the atheistic worldview that so often accompanies the acceptance of biological evolution in public discourse. Proponents of evolutionism believe every aspect of life will one day be explained with evolutionary theory. In this way it is a subset of scientism, the broader view that the only real truth is that which can be discovered by science. These positions are commonly held by materialists (also called philosophical naturalists) who deny the existence of the supernatural.|access-date=2012-01-19}}</ref>{{npsn|date=January 2020}}

==See also==
* [[Alternatives to evolution by natural selection]]
* [[Darwinism]]
* [[Evolution as fact and theory]]
* [[Evidence of common descent]]
* [[Social Darwinism]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* Carneiro, Robert, ''Evolutionism in Cultural Anthropology: A Critical History'' {{ISBN|0-8133-3766-6}}
* {{cite book |title=World Religions and Social Evolution of the Old World Oikumene Civilizations: A Cross-cultural Perspective | url = https://www.academia.edu/33971106 |edition=First |last=Korotayev |first=Andrey | author-link=Andrey Korotayev |publisher=[[Edwin Mellen Press]]|location=[[Lewiston, New York]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-7734-6310-3}} (on the applicability of this notion to the study of [[Sociocultural evolution|social evolution]])
* Review of ''[[William Buckland|Buckland's]] [[Bridgewater Treatise]]'', ''[[The Times]]'' Tuesday, November 15, 1836; pg. 3; Issue 16261; col E. ("annihilates the doctrine of spontaneous and progressive evolution of life, and its impious corollary, chance")
* Review of [[Charles Darwin]]'s ''The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals'' ''The Times'' Friday, December 13, 1872; pg. 4; Issue 27559; col A. ("His [Darwin's] thorough-going 'evolutionism' tends to eliminate...")
* Ruse, Michael. 2003. ''[http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/299/5612/1523 Is Evolution a Secular Religion?]'' Science 299:1523-1524 (concluding that [[evolutionary biology]] is not a religion in any sense but noting that several evolutionary biologists, such as [[Edward O. Wilson]], in their roles as citizens concerned about getting the public to deal with reality, have made statements like "evolution is a [[Mythology|myth]] that is now ready to take over [[Christianity]]").
*{{cite book | last = Singh | first = Manvir | title = The Evolutionist's Doodlebook | publisher = Fuss Klas Publishing | location = New Jersey | year = 2011 | isbn = 978-0-9832930-0-2 }}
*{{cite book | last = Trigger | first = Bruce | title = A History of Archaeological Thought | url = https://archive.org/details/historyofarchaeo0000trig | url-access = registration | publisher = Cambridge University Press | location = Cambridge | year = 2006 | isbn = 978-0-521-84076-7 }}

{{Philosophy of science}}

[[Category:Biological evolution]]
[[Category:Biology theories]]