Abstract

In the nineteenth century there were as many formulations of Darwinian evolution as there were Darwinians. Consequently, Michael Ruse defines a “Darwinian” as “someone who identified with Darwin, but not necessarily someone who accepted all of Darwin’s ideas.” Therefore, the only way to determine what William James meant by Darwinian evolutionary science is by checking his references to it and his adoption of recognizably Darwinian theory and methods. By “Darwinian evolution” he sometimes refers to a reductionist interpretation according to which consciousness is nothing but brain processes, and survival of the fittest is applied to reality mechanistically. He excepted himself from this interpretation, however, and his own evolutionary Darwinism was a merging of idealist philosophical and empirical scientific commitments. James was confident that his reading of Darwin and particular application of it were consistent with the Darwinian texts and that the reductionist Darwinians who understood the survival of the fittest as a justification for a Hobbesian state of nature were misreading Darwin.