Verdelgen of verheffen? De evolutietheorie en de maakbaarheid van de mens

• Main Author: R. de Bont
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Open Journals 2007-01-01
• Series: BMGN: Low Countries Historical Review
• Subjects: Science, history of
• Online Access: https://www.bmgn-lchr.nl/articles/6665

<p><strong><em>To elevate or to exterminate? Evolution theory and the ‘Man’s ability to be transformed’<br /></em></strong>Around 1900, Belgian scientists from different disciplines were tempted to use the theory of evolution as a tool to make pronouncements about the ‘Man’s ability to be transformed’. Although<em> </em>some biologists did examine this issue, it was primarily sociologists, anthropologists, educationalists, criminologists and eugenicists who used biological language to tackle the question. In this article I argue that these commentators can be divided into two groups: the determinists and the voluntarists.  The first tended to believe in an evolution that was determined by an insurmountable struggle for life.</p><p> </p><p>A larger group of voluntarists, however, believed human evolution could be adjusted by changing the milieu in which people lived. In spite of this difference, the two groups also had a lot in common. Both used biological terminology to argue for a new type of government, which was completely ‘objective’ and ‘scientific’. In this way, both became defenders of what can be described as a ‘depoliticization’ of politics.</p><p> </p><p>This article is part of the special issue '<a href="/412/volume/122/issue/4/">De menselijke canon en de Lage Landen</a>'.</p>