Resumen

RESTREPO FORERO, OLGA. Darwinism in Colombia: Visions of nature and society. Acta biol.Colomb. [online]. 2009, vol.14, suppl.1, pp.23-40. ISSN 0120-548X.

As was the case in other Latin-American countries, during the last quarter of the 19th century in Colombia, Darwinism generated intense discussion between its followers and its opponents. In the present work, I describe the social environment in which these polemics occurred and the participation of different groups, including naturalists, physicians, intellectuals, lawyers, politicians and university students, all of whom linked the theory of evolution to their different concerns. I present evidence about how the debate was simultaneously scientific and political and covered themes such as educational reform and the education of young people and women, religion and the relations between the Church and the State, and fundamental questions about the nation and the racial constitution of the population. The polemics around Darwinism were indistinctly related to the positivism of Spencer and his ideas about society, human nature and the limits of scientific naturalism.

Palabras clave : Colombia; Darwinism; history of biology; positivism; XIXth Century.

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