ABSTRACT
Natural selection, in Charles Darwin's view, moved very slowly and gradually, operating at a stately Lyellian pace. Though natural selection is the linchpin of Darwin's theory of evolution, his notebooks indicate only the slow emergence of its ramifying features. Darwin imbedded his developing theory of natural selection in a decidedly progressivist and teleological framework, a framework quite obvious when one examines the initial construction of his theory. In September 1854, Darwin noted in his pocket diary, "Began sorting notes for Species theory". Darwin believed that the moral instincts were essentially persistent social instincts that might continue to urge cooperative action even after being interrupted by a more powerful, self-directed impulse. In the Autobiography, Darwin mentioned two considerations that had readied him to detect in Thomas Malthus a new possibility for the explanation of species development: the power of artificial selection and the role of struggle.
