Darwinist
Natural selection believer
A Darwinist accepts Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection as the explanation for biological diversity.
The term appears in scientific contexts but more often in ideological debates, where opponents use it to frame evolutionary biology as a belief system rather than established science: Darwinists and creationists clashed at the school board meeting.
Student of nature
- BeagleHistoric British survey ship
- GalapagosEcuadorian Pacific archipelago
- finchesSmall seed-eating birds
- descentDownward slope or lineage
transmutation · barnacles · earthworms · Victorian · voyage · biogeography · Wallace · Huxley
Proponent of species transformation
- naturalistStudent of nature
- materialistValues physical over spiritual
- secularistAdvocate for nonreligious governance
- rationalistOne guided by reason
empiricist · Huxley · Dawkins · biologist · atheist · agnostic · humanist · freethinker
Differential reproductive success
- survival of the fittestAdaptive advantage perpetuates species
- speciationFormation of distinct species
- common descentAll organisms share forebears
- phylogenyEvolutionary relationships among organisms
adaptation · genetic drift · mutation · fitness · reproductive success · divergence · common ancestor · sexual selection
Controlled human reproduction theory
- MalthusianExpecting resource-outpacing reproduction
- survival of the fittestAdaptive advantage perpetuates species
- laissez-faireNoninterference in commerce
- competitionStruggle for supremacy
struggle for existence · determinism · hereditarian · evolutionism · naturalism · mechanism · reductionism · progressivism
Origins-by-design proponent
- intelligent designPurposeful cause over randomness
- fundamentalistStrict original-doctrine adherent
- teleologyStudy of purpose in nature
- LamarckianAcquired characteristics inherited
naturalist
Student of nature
- BeagleHistoric British survey ship
- GalapagosEcuadorian Pacific archipelago
- finchesSmall seed-eating birds
descent · transmutation · barnacles · earthworms · Victorian · voyage · biogeography · Wallace · Huxley · Wedgwood
evolutionist
Proponent of species transformation
- naturalistStudent of nature
- materialistValues physical over spiritual
- secularistAdvocate for nonreligious governance
rationalist · empiricist · Huxley · Dawkins · biologist · atheist · agnostic · humanist · freethinker · reductionist
natural selection
Differential reproductive success
- survival of the fittestAdaptive advantage perpetuates species
- speciationFormation of distinct species
- common descentAll organisms share forebears
phylogeny · adaptation · genetic drift · mutation · fitness · reproductive success · divergence · common ancestor · sexual selection · evolutionary theory
eugenics
Controlled human reproduction theory
- MalthusianExpecting resource-outpacing reproduction
- survival of the fittestAdaptive advantage perpetuates species
- laissez-faireNoninterference in commerce
competition · struggle for existence · determinism · hereditarian · evolutionism · naturalism · mechanism · reductionism · progressivism · scientism
creationist
Origins-by-design proponent
- intelligent designPurposeful cause over randomness
- fundamentalistStrict original-doctrine adherent
- teleologyStudy of purpose in nature
Lamarckian · vitalism · Genesis · scriptural
Darwinistvitalist
Life-force doctrine adherent
essentialist · creation scientist · Lamarckian · catastrophist
- Darwinian evolutionSpecies change through selection
- social DarwinismMisapplied natural selection to society
- Darwinian theoryEvolution via natural selection