Assignment #3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Assignment #3 - Essay Example l and means by which to reproduce. This he named ‘natural selection ‘ or the survival of the fittest.’ The theory proposed that those individuals with the more successful adaptations would be able to get more food, and so would be healthier, live longer, and have more success at reproduction. The scientific world of the time was aware of variation, but the first principle of Darwin’s theory is that individuals vary in their heritable traits, so much so that that no two living beings are exactly similar. He first became aware of this because of his close observations of the various plant and animal species collected by him from the remote Galapagos Islands. He realised that although the species there resembled those from elsewhere they were actually unique to the islands, and in many cases to particular islands. Following the expedition he concluded that the environment affected evolution.. The organisms best suited to particular environment not only survive, but also become more and more sophisticated and specialized. Darwin noticed that variation was a characteristic belonging to all living beings and that through reproduction these traits would continue down the generations, the principle of genetics. He wrote about species adapting to its environment over time, giving it perhaps a genetic advantage over and above competitors, whether of the same species or from a different genus. Such a successful trait would be passed on to off spring. He also became aware that some species did not survive. In 1859 he wrote his famous book ‘ On the Origin of Species’. He wrote:- Thus, from the war of nature, from famine and death, the most exalted object which we are capable of conceiving, namely, the production of the higher animals, directly follows.( Dennet.(1995). p. 64) Darwin also described how, through many millions of years and because of the

The Relationship Between Individuals and Government Research Paper

The Relationship Between Individuals and Government - Research Paper Example The primary question when understanding social contracts is to determine how society governs itself. Locke attributes this to the notion of natural law and says that social norms turn artificial in the midst of a contract. He believes that individuals are guided mainly by natural reasoning and must adhere to certain limitations under the law. However, people are often misguided by their own selfish interests and may break this protocol. Thus, Locke reasons that people require a social contract that is governed by natural law. Social contract and harmony are enforced through a set of public institutions, which enforce law and order according to predefined doctrines besides taking corrective actions in case of aberrations on the part of people or institutions (Morris, 2009). On the other hand, Rousseau adopts a more philosophical approach by including political factors into the social phenomenon. Using concepts like the sovereign state and the rights of people, Rousseau explains that a social contract allows people to place their power and trust with the common will of the state and motivates them to contribute to the latter’s progress as an indivisible component. Thus, the precondition for a social contract is a collective entity that caters to the human, societal and political ambitions of the state (Winfield, 2008). The elements constituting this collective body are the individuals themselves, who exist and thrive under a set of laws proclaimed by the ‘collective’ state.