Claim CA002:

Survival of the fittest implies that "might makes right" is a proper guide to behavior.

Source:

Keyes, Alan, 7 July 2001. Survival of the fittest? WorldNetDaily, http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=23533

Response:

  1. This claim exemplifies the naturalistic fallacy by arguing that the way things are implies how they ought to be. It is like saying that if someone's arm is broken, it should stay broken. But "is" does not imply "ought." Evolution is descriptive. It tells how things are, not how they should be.

  2. Humans, being social, improve their fitness through cooperation with other people. Even if survival of the fittest were taken as a basis for morals, it would imply treating other people well.

Links:

Wilkins, John, 1997. Evolution and philosophy: Does evolution make might right? http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/evolphil/social.html

Further Reading:

Hume, David, (1779) 1947. Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, N.K. Smith, ed., Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill. http://www.anselm.edu/homepage/dbanach/dnr.htm
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created 2003-6-5, modified 2003-9-26