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Featured articleCharles Darwin is a featured article; it (or a previous version of it) has been identified as one of the best articles produced by the Wikipedia community. Even so, if you can update or improve it, please do so.
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Why is this page listed in the "Utilitarians" category?

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Nothing else on this page references utilitarianism and I've never heard of Darwin being one. Does anyone have any knowledge on this? Cleebadee (talk) 16:37, 16 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

It's possible that it was confused with Unitarianism. Cleebadee (talk) 16:47, 16 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I have deleted it as unreferenced. Dudley Miles (talk) 17:25, 16 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I note the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy's article on "Darwin: From the Origin of Species to the Descent of Man"] has a discussion of Darwin and Utilitarianism (which concludes that he wasn't one). Erp (talk) 01:37, 17 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
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Hello! This is to let editors know that File:Charles Darwin by Julia Margaret Cameron, c. 1868.jpg, a featured picture used in this article, has been selected as the English Wikipedia's picture of the day (POTD) for February 12, 2025. A preview of the POTD is displayed below and can be edited at Template:POTD/2025-02-12. For the greater benefit of readers, any potential improvements or maintenance that could benefit the quality of this article should be done before its scheduled appearance on the Main Page. If you have any concerns, please place a message at Wikipedia talk:Picture of the day. Thank you! Jay8g [VTE] 01:49, 2 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended from a common ancestor is now generally accepted and considered a fundamental scientific concept. In a joint presentation with Alfred Russel Wallace, he introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding. Darwin published his theory of evolution with compelling evidence in his 1859 book On the Origin of Species. By the 1870s, the scientific community and a majority of the educated public had accepted evolution as a fact. However, many scientists initially favoured competing explanations that gave only a minor role to natural selection, and it was not until the emergence of the modern evolutionary synthesis from the 1930s to the 1950s that a broad consensus developed in which natural selection was the basic mechanism of evolution. Darwin's scientific discovery is the unifying theory of the life sciences, explaining the diversity of life. Darwin has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history and was honoured by burial in Westminster Abbey. This photograph of Darwin by Julia Margaret Cameron was taken around 1868.

Photograph credit: Julia Margaret Cameron; restored by Adam Cuerden

Thanks for that! Good work, . dave souza, talk 23:02, 27 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Portrait in lead

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Though the edit which "changed portrait to a more recognizable one" was clearly in good faith, the previous portrait was chosen after careful consideration, and I've restored it. As noted at Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Charles Darwin, "There was a lot of discussion earlier resulting in the decision that the image from around the time of publication of The Origin is preferable to the iconic image of Darwin's beard which he grew seven years after publication" [10:16, 17 December 2006] . . . dave souza, talk 23:02, 27 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Regarding Citation 179

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I think that reference 179 and the short sentence along with it should be removed from the article because it contrasts with the views of Darwin written later in the article. Additionally, the source itself uses the quote from the book out of context and seems to weaponize the quote. The source article makes good points of course, but the short paragraph which it mentions Darwin provides little to no context with the excerpted quote. And the author seems too merely have selected it for its seemingly racist language. The word used by the author of the article, 'degraded' means a series of successive stages, which means that Darwin was likely hypothesizing about how the multitudes of human races came to be. There are of course other issues with the use of this source such as how Darwin may have used the term Savage's to refer to indigenous people. But Darwin does not call all indigenous people savages only certain tribes. It is also worth noting that the citation within the source article does not provide the page number for which the quote, "the highest men of the highest races and the lowest savages" was found. I am aware that Darwin's Racism has been thoroughly discussed in Archived Talk pages, but either way the source has multiple issues that prevent it from being reliable enough to include in the Article. I Apologize If this has been Discussed Previously as there is a good chance I missed any previous discussions on this due to the length of the archived Discussions. Neonblaze1 (talk) 04:10, 6 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

You haven't actually provided a good reason why the material should be removed, rather than potentially given the additional context you've characterized it as lacking presently. Remsense ‥  04:27, 6 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]
The full quote (New Edition, Appleton & Co, New York, 1897, p. 66) is "Differences of this kind between the highest men of the highest races and the lowest savages, are connected by the finest gradations. Therefore it is possible that they might pass and be developed into each other." This is an argument that the differences may be social rather than genetic, the opposite to the impression given by ref 179. Dudley Miles (talk) 08:37, 6 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Quite. Do you think it's ideal to alter the passage to reflect that, as opposed to removing it? Remsense ‥  08:38, 6 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]
I would remove it. The issue is discussed extensively elsewhere in the article, and altering the passage would be original research. Dudley Miles (talk) 11:27, 6 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]
I was being a bit vague, but I meant there might be some other secondary source dealing with this material. If not, then of course we agree. Remsense ‥  11:59, 6 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]
The issue is discussed in detail in note vi. There is no point in briefly duplicating one part of the discussion in cite 179. A citation is in any case the place for citations, not notes. Dudley Miles (talk) 12:32, 6 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Agreed. Remsense ‥  12:33, 6 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]