MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 141 



THE INFLUENCE OF DARWINISM UPON PSYCHOLOGY. 



N. A. Harvey. 



The widest generalization of the human mind is the doctrine of evokition 

 Everything from a monad to man falls within its reach. Sand grains and 

 star clusters furnish evidence of its truth. Nothing in the universe escapes 

 its all comprehending boundaries. 



Psychology was studied before Spencer wrote or Darwin dreamed. From 

 Aristotle to Locke and Hume, thoughtful men had reflected upon the activi- 

 ties of their own minds. It must l)e rememl)ered that Spencer was the author 

 of the doctrine of Evolution, while Darwin furnished the evidence that 

 rendered its truth demonstrable. Sj^encer wrote his greatest book, the 

 Principles of Psychology, and unquestionably the greatv-st book in the history 

 of the subject, in 1855, four years before the publication of the Origin of 

 Species. Darwin himself presented to psychology his masterly volume 

 upon the Expression of the Emotions, still our greatest book upon that 

 phase of the subject. Romanes contributed to its advancement, while to 

 Huxley, the science is also a debtor. 



With such an impetus from the great Prophets and Lawgivers of Evolution, 

 it was to l)e expected that, when Evolution had become an article of faith 

 with all thinking men, Psychology would be one of the first branches of 

 science to j^rofit by its sui)remacy. Such has not been the case. Any 

 discussion of the topic announced at the beginning of this paper must take 

 on something of the form of an explanation why psychology has profited 

 so little by the predominance of evolutionary thought. Biology and subjects 

 with biological affiliations were the focus of the Darwinian illumination, 

 but psychology is almost the last department of human knowledge to feel 

 its full effect. Botany and zoology have been transformed V)y it. Chemistry 

 and physics have felt its beneficent influence. New departments of knowl- 

 edge have ])een born into the hierarchy of science through its quickening 

 power. But psychology has, until recently, placidly refused to respond 

 to its magical touch. 



The reasons for this delay are not far to seek. A modification of psycholo- 

 gical conceptions touches more intimately than does any other branch of 

 knowledge, the religious faith and the personal pride of nien. Even Lyell. 

 to whom Darwin attriliuted a greater influence upon his own thought and 

 labors than to any other person, could not go with Darwin into his specula- 

 tions concerning the origin of man. Wallace, the co-discoverer of Darwinism, 

 refused to believe in the efficacy of Evolution to account for man's spiritual 

 nature. And now, while nearly every intelligent person acknowledges the 

 evolutionary and natural origin of man, even to his psychical endowment, 

 the flag still flies over the solitary stronghold that defends the supernatural 

 character and destiny of the human jiersonality. 



Hence it is that any evolutionary explanation of man's psychical nature 

 which seems to weaken the bulwarks of religious dogma is fought with 

 bitterness and acrimonious zeal. The armor piercing projectile of "material- 

 ism" is hurled against it. Intuitional evidence is asserted to l)e of more 



