INVESTIGADORES
GINNOBILI Santiago
artículos
Título:
Sexual Selection and the Brotherhood of Humans: Does the argument of The Descent of Man confirm The sacred cause thesis?
Autor/es:
GINNOBILI, SANTIAGO
Revista:
PRINCIPIA
Editorial:
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
Referencias:
Año: 2023 vol. 27
ISSN:
1414-4247
Resumen:
Desmond and Moore point out that the key to understanding Darwins The Descent of Man is his abolitionist motivation and his advocacy that races constitute subspecies. Roberta Millstein raises some doubts about the importance of this motivation. She points out that the inclusion of the extensive section devoted to non-human animals is not justified by Darwins treatment of humans per se, because his explanation of the origin of races is peculiar. In this sense, she argues that Darwins specific explanation of the origin of races does not confirm the central importance that Desmond and Moore give to Darwins abolitionism. In this paper I have two different aims. On the one hand, to show that the human case actually is based on the treatment of nonhuman animals, and consequently, Darwins argument is not as poor as Millstein believes. My second goal, taking Millsteins challenge seriously, is to show that Darwins explanation of the origin of races does confirm the Desmond and Moore thesis in a deeper sense than the one they propose themselves. For the anti-slavery motivation could not only explain the fact that Darwin sees all humans as forming the same species, but the specific explanation he gives for the origin of races.