Charles Darwin - The Descent of Man (1871)
Reading Questions:
1. In our excerpt, Darwin is honing in on a couple of human
features that can be explained by natural selection. What are
they? What other features of humanity might require special
explanation?
2. Whereas the bodies of lower animals change according to the
situation, what do humans largely do?
3. How is wisdom or intelligence used as part of Darwin's
argument?
4. How does imitation aid in natural selection?
5. Where do human sympathy and fidelity come from?
6. How are these good character traits - sympathy, fidelity,
patriotism - augmented?
