Romanticism and Charles Darwin. History Research Paper

Romanticism and Charles Darwin
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Romanticism and Charles Darwin
The Romanticism movement developed in Europe and lasted between the periods of the 18th to the 19th century. Ideally, this intellectual movement saw many improvements and inventions made in all areas of life including literature, music, arts and science. Moreover, society at this time was generally more enlightened and curious about the important aspects of life like the origin of life and the concept of supernatural beings. Charles Darwin was one of the intellectuals of this era who made great efforts in trying to answer some of these crucial questions. As a scientist and a renowned historian, he contributed a lot to science and medicine through his evolutionary theories. The applicability and significance of Darwin’s works lasted beyond the romantic era since his theories and ideas are still largely used in modern medicine to explain various phenomena like the signs, symptoms and causes of diseases. Other issues like obesity and anxiety disorders are also best understood when approached from the perspective of Darwin’s evolutionary theory. Indeed, this period remains very significant in the history of science and medicine as illustrated below.
Immediately after the enlightenment era came romanticism, which was marked by great intellectual development that saw a general increase in the curiosity of people about life. Notably, there was an increase in questions revolving around self-understanding (Bowles 2012). For example, there were questions relating to what beauty, God, man and woman were. In addition, some also sought to understand the natural world and the person or power behind the creation of this world. This increased curiosity and the availability of more information during this time contributed to scientific specialization development. In regards to this, Charles Darwin tried to explain how various species came into being and why some survived and others did not despite being in the same environment. To explain he developed the theory of evolution by natural selection otherwise referred to as “survival for the fittest.” According to this theory, those species that were best suited to adapt to different environmental conditions they were placed in had high chances of surviving and bringing forth their off-springs. On the other hand, the weaker species easily became extinct after some time. During this period, the theory was scientifically interpreted as an explanation for why one race was intellectually superior to another. Considering that it was developed in the 19th century when the practice of slavery was rife, it means that the cultural environment did have an impact on this theory. Earlier in his life, a former black slave taught Darwin. The encounter contributed to his desire to change the society’s perception about the black race through his works. He found out that both whites and blacks had the same intellectual ability and therefore developed the concept of common descent. According to this concept, the tree from which all races descended is the same hence the need for equality. This explains why Darwin was a strong abolitionist when it came to slavery. From above, Darwin’s work is scien...