Evolution and human uniqueness

Abstract

This chapter suggests that we should reread the writings of Charles Darwin, for contrary to strong social beliefs among contemporary scientific communities, the founder of the theory of natural selection was neither a strong defender of eugenics nor a social Darwinist. It discusses the legitimacy of a new interdisciplinary research field that focuses on the survival of disabled members in prehistoric human groups. As some members of our species are affected by loss of 'normal powers' due to disability, they appear unnecessary in developing the highest human faculties that contribute to the evolutionary success of human beings. Due to the modern dominant accounts of human evolution and the underlying philosophical anthropology they reflect, human fragility and disability have been left out of the elements that have played a significant in evolutionary history. By excluding human vulnerability and disability from anthropological and evolutionary concerns, some scholars build their scientific and ethical theories on the philosophical pretence that humans are ontologically independent.