Darwin’s Books About Evolution and Reactions to Them

Abstract

This chapter provides a précis of Part II of the book, including a brief discussion of Charles Darwin’s basic ideas about evolution, and the major theories presented in his three books on evolution: the theory of common descent (or descent with modification), the theory of natural selection, the theory of sexual selection, and the theory of continuity of mind. The chapter explains that Darwin’s ideas about evolution were rapidly and widely accepted by the general public in the U.K. and U.S., with the exception of Conservative Christians in the U.S. The chapter also briefly describes the reactions of American psychology and the development of Evolutionary Psychology, as well as the development of Ethology in Europe. The scientific concepts of ultimate causes and proximate causes are discussed and several examples of proximate causes (or proximate mechanisms) are given in the section titled Ultimate Causes and Proximate Mechanisms. The final section of the chapter highlights the key conclusions to be drawn from Part II of the book.