CHAPTER III 



THE BIOLOGICAL ERRORS 



THE primary error ^ of those who have dis- 

 torted Darwin's theory beyond all recogni- 

 tion is one of stupendous magnitude. It consists 

 in ignoring completely the existence of the physical 

 universe! The cause of progress is assumed to 

 be, not the struggle of man with his environment, 

 from which he gets food, clothing, shelter, and all 

 other necessities, but the struggle of man with 

 man, a struggle which is by its nature unproductive 

 and fruitless. 



The infinite error involved in forgetting entirely 

 the existence of the physical universe is due, 

 first, to a common defect of the human mind, 

 which tends to overlook the most commonplace 



' Novikov's analysis {La Critique du Darwinisme social, 

 chapters ii.-xx.) of the errors of "social Darwinism" into three 

 groups — (i) errors of the biological order; (2) general errors of the 

 sociological order, and (3) special errors of the sociological order — 

 has been followed in this and the two succeeding chapters of the 

 present work. Those desiring a more detailed criticism than is 

 given in the present summary are referred to Novikov's larger 

 work, in which a separate chapter is devoted to each of the 

 seventeen most important errors. 



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