Survival of the fittest
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"Survival of the fittest" is a phrase which is shorthand for a concept relating to competition for survival or predominance. Originally applied by Herbert Spencer in his Principles of Biology of 1864, Spencer drew parallels to his ideas of economics with Charles Darwin's theories of evolution by what Darwin termed natural selection.
Although Darwin used the phrase "survival of the fittest" as a synonym for "natural selection", modern biologists prefer the latter phrase.
The phrase is a metaphor, not a scientific description; and it is not generally used by biologists, who almost unanimously prefer to use the phrase "natural selection" exclusively.
See also
- Altruism
- Evolution of societies
- Mutation
- Social ecology
- Social implications of the theory of evolution
- Robert Boyle
- Natural philosophy
- John Ruskin
- Freedom of thought
- Freethought
- Scientific skepticism
- Social Darwinism
- Social evolutionism
- Neo-Creationism
- Garden of Eden
- Age of the earth
- Ethical relativism
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