The Origins of George Bernard Shaw's Life Force Philosophy

This book examines George Bernard Shaw's Life Force philosophy and its use and development in selected plays. The book notes the background and sources which were major influencing factors in its development. The book points out the philosophical ideas and concepts of seven philosophers and scientists whose ideas later appeared in the Shavian concept of Creative Evolution. George Bernard Shaw selected many ideas from other philosophers in the process of creating his own eclectic philosophy. Because there are varying opinions as to the specific origins of the Life Force philosophy, this study is designed to explore certain specific origins and sources of biologic evolution which led to Shaw's philosophy. Several philosophical and scientific concepts are examined and analyzed in their relationships to Creative Evolution and the Life Force. The Life Force concept of George Bernard Shaw contains the central idea that Life is a vital force or impulse that strives to attain greater power of contemplation and self-realization. Creative Evolution is the manner in which the Life Force strives to reach this perfect state of contemplation as it continually creates something better and greater beyond the life forms already developed. The Superman is a symbol of the superior race of men that will evolve in the future. Primary sources include selected plays, letters, articles, and essays written by George Bernard Shaw. Other primary sources are selected books and articles, including Henri Bergson's Creative Evolution; Samuel Butler's Life and Habit, Unconscious Memory, Luck or Cunning, and Evolution Old and New; Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species; and Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche's The Will to Power, Thus Spake Zarathustra, and Beyond Good and Evil. Secondary sources include selected books, essays, periodicals, and magazines devoted to George Bernard Shaw's philosophy and other philosophers, and works by scholars and critics that discuss the Life Force philosophy of Shaw. George Bernard Shaw was essentially an independent thinker, yet, he consistently used the ideas of others. His Life Force philosophy is not a coordinated, developed body of knowledge. It is not as thoroughly developed as the philosophical systems of Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, or Bergson; however, it was sufficiently thorough for Shaw. He took ideas and concepts, many that were generally accepted in the nineteenth century, and formulated a philosophy in which he could believe and put his faith. Shaw vividly portrayed these ideas and concepts in his works and showed how his beliefs were closely associated with society and life. He owes a tremendous debt to the ideas, concepts, and beliefs of the philosophers mentioned in this study, along with the essential scientific ideas and theories of the main stream of thought in the nineteenth century. Although many have asked questions about "truth," few have tried to answer them. Fewer still have bothered to express their ideas in writing. When these few do write their opinions and beliefs, their ideas frequently are contrary to popular or general beliefs. George Bernard Shaw's Life Force philosophy has been opposed because most men give only science credit for life changes. Most men accept only factual evidence that can be proved, and have little regard for the abstract. Man wants "facts" instead of abstract concepts and philosophical theories. Shaw's Life Force concept was never accepted during his life nor is it generally accepted today. Yet his theory of the Life Force is an interesting philosophical idea, particularly in the way Shaw uses it as the main theme for important plays.