The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex
- Language:
- English
- Status:
- Selection or partial work
- Authorship:
- Written by the author
- Condition of the text:
- Clean text
- Extent:
- ~330,000 words · 1,569 passages
Cite this work
- APACharles Darwin. (n.d.). The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/charles-darwin/the-descent-of-man-and-selection-in-relation-to-sex
- MLACharles Darwin. "The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex." SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/en/works/charles-darwin/the-descent-of-man-and-selection-in-relation-to-sex.
- ChicagoCharles Darwin. The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/charles-darwin/the-descent-of-man-and-selection-in-relation-to-sex.
What it is about
The application of evolution to the human species, and the case for sexual selection to explain what natural selection alone does not.
Context and history
Darwin waited twelve years after the Origin before publishing it, in 1871: in the Origin he had only hinted that the argument would reach humans too. He argues that man descends from an African primate and that the moral sense can be explained by social instinct. Much of the book is not about humans at all but about mate choice in animals, the mechanism he is proposing.
Editorial context, not a citable source: unlike the passages of the work itself, these statements cannot be checked against the corpus.
During the successive reprints of the first edition of this work, published in 1871, I was able to introduce several important corrections; and now that more time has elapsed, I have endeavoured to profit by the fiery ordeal through which the book has passed, and have taken advantage of all the criticisms which see
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