Question

Write about the struggle for existence on which Darwinism is based.

Answer 1

Darwin's theory:

1. In the Origin of Species, Darwin declared that there was a consistent ’struggle for existence in nature, where only the fittest could survive.
2. This theory came into existence partially from his observation of Thomas Malthus’s Essay on the Principle of Population.
3. Malthus and his followers believed that the earth would never be able to support the increasing number of human beings and other creatures that were being produced.
4. For Darwin, the inevitability of a struggle for survival was the key to evolution by ‘natural selection.
5. Any individual plant or animal that varied in an advantageous way would have more possibilities to win over its competitors.
6. Only those who survived would reproduce, diversify and develop further and fill any available ecological niche.
7. New species slowly came into existence, and simultaneously a lot of old species became extinct.