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Articles

Survival of the Fittest

Does ‘survival of the fittest’ simply mean ‘survival of those best able to survive’? If so, is the theory of evolution just an empty statement of the obvious? Fred Leavitt unravels a logical challenge to Darwinism.

The phrase ‘survival of the fittest’ seems to play a key role in the theory of evolution. Yet both creationists and some prominent philosophers and biologists have argued that the phrase is used tautologously; as a result, they assert, the whole theory is invalidated. I shall try to show that their reasoning is incorrect.

The theory of evolution by natural selection rests on three principles:

1. Individuals vary.

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