Abstract
Alfred Russel Wallace’s Social Environment and Moral Progress (1913) was the last book he wrote and one of the most powerful statements of his thought and beliefs. As with his Revolt of Democracy (1913), written before but published after Social Environment and Moral Progress, the work finds Wallace passionate in his advocacy of social and economic reform. Despite his advanced age (Wallace turned 90 in January 1913), the book is deeply engaged with contemporary controversies, including the rise of labor, arguments against eugenics, and debates around the social and political status of women. What distinguishes Wallace’s text is that he fashions a remedy to social inequality rooted in his understanding of evolutionary science. Moral progress, Wallace argues, depends upon the operation of a selective agency, but not the one the eugenicists advocate. Instead, he proposes a society in which women are freed from their economic dependence on men and a “truly natural selection” is able to operate.
Disciplines
Philosophy | Philosophy of Science
Recommended Citation
Stack, David and Smith editor, Charles H., "Alfred Russel Wallace Notes 43. Alfred Russel Wallace’s Social Environment and Moral Progress." (2026). Faculty/Staff Personal Papers. Paper 369.
https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/fac_staff_papers/369