Πρώτη φορά βλέπω την απόδοση «η επιβίωση των ανταγωνιστικότερων» για το survival of the fittest. Θα ανοίξω νήμα, αργότερα.
Να κρατάμε και καμιά υπόσχεση… Πριν περάσουμε στην πολυλογία της Wikipedia, ας το ξεκαθαρίσουμε μια για πάντα. Για τον Δαρβίνο, survival of the fittest σημαίνει «επιβίωση των καλύτερα προσαρμοσμένων στο περιβάλλον». Ούτε των ικανοτέρων ούτε των ισχυροτέρων. Και είναι συνώνυμο της φυσικής επιλογής (natural selection).
Το κείμενο της Wikipedia είναι χορταστικό και σαφέστατο:
"Survival of the fittest" is a phrase which is commonly used in contexts other than intended by its first two proponents: British polymath philosopher Herbert Spencer (who coined the term) and Charles Darwin.
Herbert Spencer first used the phrase – after reading Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species – in his Principles of Biology (1864), in which he drew parallels between his own economic theories and Darwin's biological ones, writing, "This survival of the fittest, which I have here sought to express in mechanical terms, is that which Mr. Darwin has called 'natural selection', or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life."
Darwin first used Spencer's new phrase "survival of the fittest" as a synonym for natural selection in the fifth edition of On the Origin of Species, published in 1869. Darwin meant it as a metaphor for "better adapted for immediate, local environment", not the common inference of "in the best physical shape". Hence, it is not a scientific description.
The phrase "survival of the fittest" is not generally used by modern biologists as the term does not accurately convey the meaning of natural selection, the term biologists use and prefer. Natural selection refers to differential reproduction as a function of traits that have a genetic basis. "Survival of the fittest" is inaccurate for two important reasons. First, survival is merely a normal prerequisite to reproduction. Second, fitness has specialized meaning in biology different from how the word is used in popular culture. In population genetics, fitness refers to differential reproduction. "Fitness" does not refer to whether an individual is "physically fit" – bigger, faster or stronger – or "better" in any subjective sense. It refers to a difference in reproductive rate from one generation to the next.
An interpretation of the phrase "survival of the fittest" to mean "only the fittest organisms will prevail" (a view sometimes derided as "Social Darwinism") is not consistent with the actual theory of evolution. Any individual organism which succeeds in reproducing itself is "fit" and will contribute to survival of its species, not just the "physically fittest" ones, though some of the population will be better adapted to the circumstances than others. A more accurate characterization of evolution would be "survival of the fit enough".
[…]
Moreover, to misunderstand or misapply the phrase to simply mean "survival of those who are better equipped for surviving" is rhetorical tautology. What Darwin meant was "better adapted for immediate, local environment" by differential preservation of organisms that are better adapted to live in changing environments. The concept is not tautological as it contains an independent criterion of fitness. […]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survival_of_the_fittest
Herbert Spencer first used the phrase – after reading Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species – in his Principles of Biology (1864), in which he drew parallels between his own economic theories and Darwin's biological ones, writing, "This survival of the fittest, which I have here sought to express in mechanical terms, is that which Mr. Darwin has called 'natural selection', or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life."
Darwin first used Spencer's new phrase "survival of the fittest" as a synonym for natural selection in the fifth edition of On the Origin of Species, published in 1869. Darwin meant it as a metaphor for "better adapted for immediate, local environment", not the common inference of "in the best physical shape". Hence, it is not a scientific description.
The phrase "survival of the fittest" is not generally used by modern biologists as the term does not accurately convey the meaning of natural selection, the term biologists use and prefer. Natural selection refers to differential reproduction as a function of traits that have a genetic basis. "Survival of the fittest" is inaccurate for two important reasons. First, survival is merely a normal prerequisite to reproduction. Second, fitness has specialized meaning in biology different from how the word is used in popular culture. In population genetics, fitness refers to differential reproduction. "Fitness" does not refer to whether an individual is "physically fit" – bigger, faster or stronger – or "better" in any subjective sense. It refers to a difference in reproductive rate from one generation to the next.
An interpretation of the phrase "survival of the fittest" to mean "only the fittest organisms will prevail" (a view sometimes derided as "Social Darwinism") is not consistent with the actual theory of evolution. Any individual organism which succeeds in reproducing itself is "fit" and will contribute to survival of its species, not just the "physically fittest" ones, though some of the population will be better adapted to the circumstances than others. A more accurate characterization of evolution would be "survival of the fit enough".
[…]
Moreover, to misunderstand or misapply the phrase to simply mean "survival of those who are better equipped for surviving" is rhetorical tautology. What Darwin meant was "better adapted for immediate, local environment" by differential preservation of organisms that are better adapted to live in changing environments. The concept is not tautological as it contains an independent criterion of fitness. […]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survival_of_the_fittest
Η σελίδα της πέμπτης έκδοσης της Καταγωγής των ειδών με την πρώτη εμφάνιση της φράσης survival of the fittest στο έργο του Δαρβίνου είναι εδώ:
This preservation of favourable variations, and the destruction of injurious variations, I call Natural Selection, or the Survival of the Fittest.
Στη μετάφραση από το Πανεπιστήμιο της Πάτρας:
Τη διατήρηση αυτή των ευνοϊκών ατομικών διαφορών καθώς και την καταστροφή εκείνων που είναι επιβλαβείς τις ονόμασα Φυσική Επιλογή ή Επιβίωση του Καλύτερα Προσαρμοσμένου.
Το άρθρο της Wikipedia συνεχίζει την ανάλυση για τις λανθασμένες σημασίες με τις οποίες έχει χρησιμοποιηθεί η έκφραση και εξηγεί έτσι γιατί οι βιολόγοι προτιμούν να χρησιμοποιούν τον όρο φυσική επιλογή.
Στο πλαίσιο του κοινωνικού δαρβινισμού ο αγγλικός όρος πήρε πάλι διαφορετικές σημασίες. Στο κείμενο της Βικιπαίδειας για τον κοινωνικό δαρβινισμό ο όρος αποδίδεται με τον ελληνικό επιβίωση του καταλληλοτέρου. Έχει εμφανιστεί και σαν δεύτερος τίτλος βιβλίου του 1890, με κύριο τίτλο Might Is Right.
In Might is Right, Redbeard rejects conventional ideas of human and natural rights and argues that only strength or physical might can establish moral right.
Το δίκαιο του ισχυροτέρου (might is right) ή ο νόμος του ισχυρού, όπως λέγεται επίσης, είναι η χειρότερη δυνατή απόδοση για το survival of the fittest. Για τη σωστή απόδοση του οποίου θα πρέπει πρώτα να ανακαλύπτουμε τι εννοεί ο κάθε (παρα)ποιητής.