Evolution and politics: The naturalistic,ethical and spiritual bases of evolutionary arguments

Naturalistic evolution, refined and propagated by Darwin and explored in its social implications by Spencer, proved to be unacceptable to many theorists as a criterion of ethical and political conduct. It is contended that a second variation of evolutionary theory self‐consciously severed the connection between nature and ethics, while a third attempted to synthesise these antithetical theories. Each conception of evolution was capable of generating a variety of political conclusions, none of which were logically necessary. It was the tendency in the third, however, to personify the state and endow it with moral agency, which provided the justification for greater state intervention in the promotion of social and educational reforms.