Charles Darwin’s way of thinking expanded far beyond his area of expertise, it expended all the way to psychology, physics, literature and even politics and economics. If you asked him “How much of his work would impact other fields?” personally I do not think he would have known. Darwinian thinking is now deeply engraved in areas such as economics and even business administration. Through this paper I will attempt to see how Darwin interacted with economists of his time such as Karl Marx, how much Adam Smith influenced Darwin, and how the Victorian economy affected how people acted. Furthermore, this paper will try to see how corporate environment can be affected through a Darwinian approach.
It is hard to know how much Darwin knew about …show more content…
So how could Darwin possible affect Adam Smith’s theories? Well indeed Darwin did not influence Smith’s Invisible Hand theory, however Darwin does influence how people today apply Smith’s theory. Like Darwin, Adam Smith saw behavioral patterns in people and understood the importance of greed. Adam Smith’s theory consists that people are rational, and that greed along with rational thinking would lead to a wealthier society. A quick look at Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations and we can see to what he was referring to, “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.” In the Wealth of Nations Adam Smith goes onto his other theory known as the Invisible Hand Theory. In it he argues that government regulation in the market is unnecessary because people’s logic would see when there is opportunity in the market and when there is not and therefore demand, price, and price adjustments will be given naturally. It is unclear how much Darwin read of Adam Smith’s work (Ghiselin, 1032). What was clear that Darwin understood the underlying assumptions of human behavior as did Adam Smith. This is crucial because greed is one of the fundamental ideas in Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest. Other common assumptions that Smith and Darwin had were cooperation and competition, …show more content…
Both of their works have lasted and influenced contemporary thinkers of today’s world. Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species was published in late 1859. While Capital: Critique of Political Economy, Karl Marx’s foundation on communist philosophy in economics and politics, was published eight years later in 1867. Karl Marx was quoted in 1860 saying, “Nothing ever gives me greater pleasure than to have my name linked onto Darwin’s” (Runkle, 108). Darwin’s influence on Marx is definitely apparent, however the level of influence is minimal. Darwin’s name appears several times in Marx’s Capital but is only used as a relation and not as a fundamental basis for influence. Marx argues that no one gives him credit for discovering the existence between Bourgeoisie, middle class to high-class people, and Proletariat, working class people, or for acknowledging the conflict between both. While for Darwin they gave him credit for discovering conflicts between species. Friedrich Engels, Karl Marx’s cofounder of Marxism, was a lot more enthusiastic about Darwin’s work as seen in his correspondence with Marx (Appendix A). Throughout the years Engels understood Darwin’s natural science more than Marx ever
It is hard to know how much Darwin knew about …show more content…
So how could Darwin possible affect Adam Smith’s theories? Well indeed Darwin did not influence Smith’s Invisible Hand theory, however Darwin does influence how people today apply Smith’s theory. Like Darwin, Adam Smith saw behavioral patterns in people and understood the importance of greed. Adam Smith’s theory consists that people are rational, and that greed along with rational thinking would lead to a wealthier society. A quick look at Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations and we can see to what he was referring to, “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.” In the Wealth of Nations Adam Smith goes onto his other theory known as the Invisible Hand Theory. In it he argues that government regulation in the market is unnecessary because people’s logic would see when there is opportunity in the market and when there is not and therefore demand, price, and price adjustments will be given naturally. It is unclear how much Darwin read of Adam Smith’s work (Ghiselin, 1032). What was clear that Darwin understood the underlying assumptions of human behavior as did Adam Smith. This is crucial because greed is one of the fundamental ideas in Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest. Other common assumptions that Smith and Darwin had were cooperation and competition, …show more content…
Both of their works have lasted and influenced contemporary thinkers of today’s world. Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species was published in late 1859. While Capital: Critique of Political Economy, Karl Marx’s foundation on communist philosophy in economics and politics, was published eight years later in 1867. Karl Marx was quoted in 1860 saying, “Nothing ever gives me greater pleasure than to have my name linked onto Darwin’s” (Runkle, 108). Darwin’s influence on Marx is definitely apparent, however the level of influence is minimal. Darwin’s name appears several times in Marx’s Capital but is only used as a relation and not as a fundamental basis for influence. Marx argues that no one gives him credit for discovering the existence between Bourgeoisie, middle class to high-class people, and Proletariat, working class people, or for acknowledging the conflict between both. While for Darwin they gave him credit for discovering conflicts between species. Friedrich Engels, Karl Marx’s cofounder of Marxism, was a lot more enthusiastic about Darwin’s work as seen in his correspondence with Marx (Appendix A). Throughout the years Engels understood Darwin’s natural science more than Marx ever