Question

Briefly describe how the work of [Adam] Smith on free-market capitalism contributed to the development of Darwin/Wallace's mechanism of natural selection.

Answer 1

Adam Smith FRSA (June 1723 – July 1790) was a Scottish economist, philosopher and author as well as a moral philosopher, a pioneer of political economy and a key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment, also famous as ''The Father of Economics'' or ''The Father of Capitalism''

In the work, Smith critically examines the moral thinking of his time and suggests that conscience arises from dynamic and interactive social relationships through which people seek "mutual sympathy of sentiments. His goal in writing the work was to explain the source of mankind's ability to form a moral judgment, given that people begin life with no moral sentiments at all. Smith proposes a theory of sympathy, in which the act of observing others and seeing the judgments they form of both others and oneself makes people aware of themselves and how others perceive their behavior. The feedback we receive from perceiving (or imagining) others' judgment creates an incentive to achieve "mutual sympathy of sentiments" with them and leads people to develop habits, and then principles, of behavior, which come to constitute one's conscience. Smith used the term "the invisible hand" in "History of Astronomy" referring to "the invisible hand of Jupiter", and once in each of his The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) and The Wealth of Nations (1776).

Darwin had reached the same conclusion years earlier, and Wallace's letter spurred him to act. The two men published a joint paper in 1858, arguing the theory of evolution and natural selection. It shook mankind's assumptions about its origins, which were heavily influenced by religion.

Natural Selection: Charles Darwin & Alfred Russel Wallace. A visit to the Galapagos Islands in 1835 helped Darwin formulate his ideas on natural selection. He found several species of finch adapted to different environmental niches. The finches also differed in beak shape, food source, and how the food was captured

British naturalist, Alfred Wallace co-developed the theory of natural selection and evolution with Charles Darwin, who is most often credited with the idea to adjust to new surroundings or a new situation a group of closely scattered islands in a large body of water