At 05:44 PM 2/21/00 -0500, you wrote:
>In response to a claim by Craig, [Mike]I quoted:
>
> >"At some future time, not very distant as measured by centuries, the
> >civilised races of man will almost certainly exterminate and replace
> >throughout the world the savage races. At the same time the
> >anthropomorphous apes... will not doubt be exterminated. The break will
> >then be rendered wider, for it will intervene between man in a more
> >civilised state, as we may hope, than the Caucasian, and some ape as low as
> >the baboon, instead of as at present between the negro or Australian and the
> >gorilla. Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man, p. 201 (Princeton University
> >Press 1981).
> >
> >Just studying plants and animals, eh?
>
> Susan replies:
>
>[snip}
>
>>Mike makes the mistake of assuming that Darwin was "hoping" that the
>>"savage" races would be wiped out. He wasn't.
Mike:
>I assumed nothing about Darwin's hopes nor do I care whether or not
>one can put the racist label on Darwin. I was merely replying to Craig's
>claim that attempted to portray Darwin as one who did not engage in
>sociological speculations but instead merely studied animal and plant
>life. I made no mistake; Liz Craig did.
If you had read the chapter rather than cutting and pasting it from some
creationist website, you would have seen that Darwin was not doing any
sociological speculation, but discussing what he thought was an ordinary
pattern of natural selection. The part you (or the original "collector" of
the quote) snipped out made that abundantly clear.
Here is the original quote with the context restored:
"The great break in the organic chain between man and his nearest
allies, which cannot be bridged over by any extinct or living species,
has often been advanced as a grave objection to the belief that man is
descended from some lower form; but this objection will not appear
of much weight to those who, from general reasons, believe in the
general principle of evolution. Breaks often occur in all parts of the
series, some being wide, sharp and defined, others less so in
various degrees; as between the orang and its nearest allies-
between the Tarsius and the other Lemuridae- between the elephant, and
in a more striking manner between the Ornithorhynchus or Echidna,
and all other mammals. But these breaks depend merely on the number of
related forms which have become extinct. At some future period, not
very distant as measured by centuries, the civilised races of man will
almost certainly exterminate, and replace, the savage races throughout
the world. At the same time the anthropomorphous apes, as Professor
Schaaffhausen has remarked,* will no doubt be exterminated. The
break between man and his nearest allies will then be wider, for it
will intervene between man in a more civilised state, as we may
hope, even than the Caucasian, and some ape as low as a baboon,
instead of as now between the negro or Australian and the gorilla."
Susan
--------
Peace is not the absence of conflict--it is the presence of justice.
--Martin Luther King, Jr.
Please visit my website:
http://www.telepath.com/susanb
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