1) Explain in what way Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection was influenced by Thomas Malthus's Essay on the Principle of Population. (Ch 6, Bowler and Morus)
First of all, what is Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection ?! Darwin’s theory of evolution entails the following fundamental ideas :
Species (populations of interbreeding organisms) change over time and space.
All organisms share common ancestors with other organisms. Over time, populations may divide into different species, which share a common ancestral population.
Evolutionary change is gradual and slow in Darwin’s view.
Malthus wrote about the struggle for survival and its relationship to the fact that the food supply is limited, but animals, if permitted by other circumstances, will continue to breed until there are too many for the available food, at which time they will compete for scarce resources. This got Darwin thinking about natural selection and the concept of biological fitness, and ultimately, to how natural selection, coupled with spontaneous mutations, could shape the characteristics of the survivors through succeeding generations, and how this could account for the diversity among the species and their evolution over sufficient periods of time.
2) Why do you think Darwin was reluctant to publish his theory of evolution? What was he afraid of? (Ch 6, Bowler and Morus)
In my opinion Darwin was reluctant to publish his theory of revolution because his views and ideas were very opposed to the views and ideas of his epoch anh he did not have enough proof to convince everybody. That’s why Darwin was reluctant about publishing his theory of evolution. Darwin knew that if he had published his theory of evolution it would have created a lot of tension and eventually protests. However, due to a letter written by Alfred Wallace Darwin published his work on the theory of evolution. The letter written by Alfred Wallace contained a summary of the theory of Darwin that is what caused Darwin to publish his work on the theory of evolution. Moreover, he was reluctant due to his wife who was truly religious and what Darwin has affirmed have been”against” religion. 3) What is social Darwinism? (Ch 18, Bowler and Morus)
Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection describes a phenomenon but it is not telling us whether the result is good or not. It is not affirming that this process generates an improvement of species. The social Darwinism is completely different from the naturel selection. Social Darwinism aims to plan and control the fact of having child by selecting artificially and not naturally those that can reproduce. Lots of people tend to be seduced by this theory such as Bertrand Russell who offered into his book that the country limit the right of having child to poor who “decrease the race”, and allow only families who are intellectually and psychologically tough to have child. This theory is basically resumed by “survival of the fittest” which means that we should eliminate people that not fit with the reality, that are not good enough to live and keep those who are more likely to survive in this world.

4) Do you agree that there are close parallels between social Darwinism and capitalism? Give reasons for your answer. (Ch 18, Bowler and Morus)
Yes I completely agree with the fact that there are close parallels between social Darwinism and capitalism. The capitalism is described as a fight to survive into the economy, into the world and so it is for the social Darwinism.
In my opinion, Social Darwinism would be a result of the capitalism. What I am trying to say it is that according to the logical capitalism each person or entity would act for him or it interest which means that only “the best” would survive and increase. If we refer to this, we would more focus on the productivity than on the humans. After this, we can say that it relates to the Darwinism social which can be described as the “survival