| Summary/Abstract |
The political thought of Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan was a response to two particular waves of American progressivism. Social Darwinism, the first wave, in its most secular, conservative, and unadulterated form, claimed that the human race is constantly progressing, that the survival of the fittest is embedded in the historical unfolding of history, and that morality is conditioned by the contingencies of one’s historical epoch. Social Darwinism led to an emphasis on human selfishness, competition, and the following of one’s interest.
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