# Darwin and the search for an evolutionary mechanism [Putting Darwin in Context]



## ChristianTrader (Jun 6, 2010)

*Summary*

Darwin’s theory of natural selection needs to be placed in the context of the history of intellectual thought preceding and contemporary with Darwin. The ideas of Lamarck, Hutton, Adam Smith and Malthus all influenced Darwin’s thinking, yet it was political and social theories of the day that did more to shape the concept of progression in human development. Natural selection merely became the mechanism.

Darwin and the search for an evolutionary mechanism


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