Oppression Of The Origin Of Species By Charles Darwin

Marx and Darwin are two 19th century thinkers that transformed their respective fields with their revolutionary theories. Marx criticized the class system and its progressive oppression of the working class, creating a communist ideology. Darwin introduced the theory of evolution into biological thought to explain species’ development and extinction through time. Although Marx focuses on the social evolution of class antagonism and Darwin writes about biological evolution, Darwin’s work justifies the power of the bourgeoisie that Marx critiques in his writing. However, Marx and Darwin are compatible in their views of historical progression and ultimately would agree on the possibility of a proletariat revolution.
Charles Darwin’s “Origin of Species” explains how variations in species occur and how species change over time to increase their biological fitness. Darwin describes the “struggle for existence”, how species compete for survival when more “individuals are produced than can possibly survive” (Darwin 2). Species compete against other species, their own species, and nature; the species most adapted to the surroundings are the species that reproduce and survive. Darwin focuses on the natural varieties and adaptations between and within species that allow for the differences in biological fitness. Those …show more content…
Darwin argues that “the structure of one species” cannot be modified for the “good of another species” without giving an advantage to the initial species. (Darwin 10). Therefore, the bourgeoisie should not relinquish power to the proletariat because it would come at a disadvantage to the bourgeoisie class. The bourgeoisie are “best fitted” the capitalist regime, unlike the proletariat and therefore can use their “special weapons”, exploitation and dehumanization, to survive (Darwin