Survival of the fittest

Survival of the fittest is a phrase which is a shorthand for a concept relating to competition for survival or predominance. Originally applied to economics by Herbert Spencer, Spencer drew parallels with Charles Darwin's theories of evolution by what Darwin termed natural selection. The phrase is essentially a metaphor and is often felt to be unhelpful - biologists almost exclusively use natural selection in preference. Some have argued that it is a tautology, since if "fitness" is measured in terms of survival, the phrase becomes "survival of the survivors". Others argue that it is not a tautology, but a biological definition of "fitness".

External links

Tautology links

• Darwin's Untimely Burial by Stephen J. Gould
• Evolution and Philosophy: A Good Tautology is Hard to Find by John Wilkins, part of the talk.origins archive.
• CA500: "Survival of the fittest is a tautology" from the talk.origins index to creationist claims by Mark Ridley.
• Is "survival of the fittest" a tautology by Don Lindsay.

Morality links

• CA002: Survival of the fittest implies that "might makes right"
• http://www.anselm.edu/homepage/dbanach/dnr.htm
• Evolution and philosophy - Does right make right? by John S. Wilkins.
• "Survival of the fittest" by Alan Keyes.
• Darwinism and Laissex-Faire Capitalism from the Institute for Creation Research