Effects of Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution in Tanzimat

Authors : Ülker ÖKTEM

Pages : 11-26

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Publication Date : 2012-10-15

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :The aim of the presenter of the article is to give the results of the studies carried out on the Theory of Evolution by Charles Darwin and to compare and contrast the views of some thinkers of the Tanzimat who produced their works under the influence of the theory. Nearly all thinkers of the Tanzimat, excluding a few, appropriated the theory of evolution of Charles Darwin. It has been observed that the thinkers of this particular period in the history of the Ottoman Empire tried to put some of the principles of the theory into practice in the same manner like such European scholars as Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer and some others. In the final part of the study, the significant impact of Darwin’s theory on both European and Ottoman philosophers of the period in which the theory came to be known is revealed.
Keywords : Evolution, Natural Selection, Species, Struggle for Survival, Progress, Perfection