BioOne.org will be down briefly for maintenance on 17 December 2024 between 18:00-22:00 Pacific Time US. We apologize for any inconvenience.
How to translate text using browser tools
2 March 2023 Fatal asymmetries
The conflicting relationship between political institutions and natural selection
Luis Sánchez
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

In Descent of Man, Charles Darwin noted the impact of political institutions on natural selection. He thought that institutions such as asylums or hospitals may deter natural selection; however, he did not reach a decisive answer. Questions remain as to whether the selective impacts of political institutions, which in Darwin's terms may be referred to as “artificial selection,” are compatible with natural selection, and if so, to what extent. This essay argues that currently there appears to be an essential mismatch between nature and political institutions. Unfitted institutions put exogenous and disproportionate pressures on living beings. This creates consequences for what is postulated as the condition of basic equivalence, which allows species and individuals to enjoy similar chances of survival under natural circumstances. Thus, contrary to Darwin's expectations, it is sustained that assumed natural selection is not discouraged but becomes exacerbated by political institutions. In such conditions, selection becomes primarily artificial and perhaps mainly political, with consequences for species' evolutionary future.

Luis Sánchez "Fatal asymmetries
The conflicting relationship between political institutions and natural selection," Politics and the Life Sciences 41(1), 90-104, (2 March 2023). https://doi.org/10.1017/pls.2020.27
Published: 2 March 2023
JOURNAL ARTICLE
15 PAGES

This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
+ SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

KEYWORDS
artificial selection
basic equivalence
ecological constitution
NATURAL SELECTION
political institutions
self-restraint
self-sufficiency
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top