Social Darwinism in American Thought

Richard Hofstadter's classic study examines the significant influence of Darwin's theories on American social thought. It details the intellectual conflicts among thinkers like Herbert Spencer and William Graham Sumner, who used evolutionary ideas to support laissez-faire capitalism, and William James and John Dewey, who argued for human-directed social development. This book provides a major analysis of the social philosophies that defined the Gilded Age and Progressive Era.