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"Spencer, Herbert (1820–1903)", Hodgson, Geoffrey M. "Social Darwinism in Anglophone Academic Journals: A Contribution to the History of the Term" (2004) 17, Stewart, Iain. )", "Herbert Spencer and the Disunity of the Social Organism", Left and Right: A Journal of Libertarian Thought, Relationship between religion and science, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Herbert_Spencer&oldid=1011618980, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2009, Articles needing additional references from October 2017, All articles needing additional references, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2020, Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from February 2016, Articles with Biodiversity Heritage Library links, Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers, Wikipedia articles with Botanist identifiers, Wikipedia articles with CANTIC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with PLWABN identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with multiple identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Before publishing your articles on this site, please read the following pages: 1. They would also instinctively respect the rights of others, leading to the universal observance of the principle of justice – each person had the right to a maximum amount of liberty that was compatible with a like liberty in others. [23] In the 1890s, Émile Durkheim established formal academic sociology with a firm emphasis on practical social research. Of course during formal change the quantum of matter and motion remains static. Whereas Social Statics had been the work of a radical democrat who believed in votes for women (and even for children) and in the nationalisation of the land to break the power of the aristocracy, by the 1880s he had become a staunch opponent of female suffrage and made common cause with the landowners of the Liberty and Property Defence League against what they saw as the drift towards 'socialism' of elements (such as Sir William Harcourt) within the administration of William Ewart Gladstone – largely against the opinions of Gladstone himself. Herbert Spencer, an English sociologist, took Darwin's theory and applied it to how societies change and evolve over time. Spencer believed in two kinds of knowledge: knowledge gained by the individual and knowledge gained by the race. Even today there are several tribes and aboriginals that do not show any sign of evolution. Copyright 10. … Be he human or be he brute — the hindrance must be got rid of. Prohibited Content 3. It undergoes no change. He predicted that humanity would eventually become completely adapted to the requirements of living in society with the consequential withering away of the state. Energy or Force is persistence. According to Spencer there must be harmony among the various laws of evolution. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/26138/?back=,36208, The Zoist: A Journal of Cerebral Physiology & Mesmerism, and Their Applications to Human Welfare, "Essays: Scientific, Political and Speculative, Vol. 4. Compound societies were presented as having generally come about through either a peaceful or a violent merger of two or more simple societies. Herbert Spencer (27 April 1820 – 8 December 1903) was an English philosopher, biologist, anthropologist, and sociologist famous for his hypothesis of social Darwinism whereby superior physical force shapes history. He also followed positivism in his insistence that it was only possible to have genuine knowledge of phenomena and hence that it was idle to speculate about the nature of the ultimate reality. They are merely transformed into the manifestation of some other event. According to Lewis A. Coser, “The very- foundation of Spencerism is the evolutionary doctrine or the law of evolution. Spencer's interest in psychology derived from a more fundamental concern which was to establish the universality of natural law. His later years were also ones in which his political views became increasingly conservative. Therefore, the heterogeneity of matter alone is not claimed to be ever increasing. (ii) Principle of formal changes and uniformity: Matter and motion is not completely destroyed. Learn More. He has been claimed as a precursor by right-libertarians and anarcho-capitalists. [43] Such varied thinkers as Henry Sidgwick, T.H. The book was founded on the fundamental assumption that the human mind was subject to natural laws and that these could be discovered within the framework of general biology. Herbert Spencer was born in Derby, England, on 27th April, 1820. (iii) Principle of least resistance and greatest attraction. It also lacks uniformity. In physical evolution, a movement is from indefinite incoherent situation to definite and coherent situation. 2. [36] Although he retained support for unions, his views on the other issues had changed by the 1880s. Through such associations, Spencer had a strong presence in the heart of the scientific community and was able to secure an influential audience for his views. "[citation needed], For many, the name of Herbert Spencer is virtually synonymous with social Darwinism, a social theory that applies the law of the survival of the fittest to society and is integrally related to the nineteenth century rise in scientific racism. Furthermore, in such societies to a greater and lesser extent, custom has passed into positive law and religious observances have grown definite, rigid and complex. Spencer posited that all structures in the universe develop from a simple, undifferentiated, homogeneity to a complex, differentiated, heterogeneity, while being accompanied by a process of greater integration of the differentiated parts. The same thing will happen if there should be any considerable mixture of European or American races with the Japanese."[41]. It may speed up or slow down. Spencer's philosophical system seemed to demonstrate that it was possible to believe in the ultimate perfection of humanity on the basis of advanced scientific conceptions such as the first law of thermodynamics and biological evolution. Units which are alike will respond in a similar fashion, whereas units which are different will respond differently. Spencer was a sociologist in part. Spencer envisaged that this work of ten volumes would take twenty years to complete; in the end it took him twice as long and consumed almost all the rest of his long life. Energy or Force is the cause of evolution but it is unaffected by the evolutionary process. His ashes are interred in the eastern side of London's Highgate Cemetery facing Karl Marx's grave. H.G. (iii) Principle of least resistance or great attraction: The direction of evolution is always towards the line of least resistance or greatest attraction. After reading the Origin, he became the first to apply Darwinian principles rigorously to society, a concept now known as Social Darwinism. Dissolution is the reverse process. Spencer's political views from this period were expressed in what has become his most famous work, The Man Versus the State. Coined the phrase "survival of the fittest" Spencer was an agnostic who believed that the only way to gain knowledge was through a scientific approach. There are of course, changes in the form of motion. It differed from other scientific laws only by its greater generality, and the laws of the special sciences could be shown to be illustrations of this principle. Spencer argued that both these theories were partial accounts of the truth: repeated associations of ideas were embodied in the formation of specific strands of brain tissue, and these could be passed from one generation to the next by means of the Lamarckian mechanism of use-inheritance. From the in differentiated to the differentiation of specialized structure and functions?”. The primary mechanism of species transformation that he recognised was Lamarckian use-inheritance which posited that organs are developed or are diminished by use or disuse and that the resulting changes may be transmitted to future generations. These undergo changes in form only. Even in his writings on ethics, he held that it was possible to discover 'laws' of morality that had the status of laws of nature while still having normative content, a conception which can be traced to George Combe's Constitution of Man. All forces and elements move along the line of least resistance and greatest attraction. The exception to Spencer's growing conservatism was that he remained throughout his life an ardent opponent of imperialism and militarism. In the perfect society individuals would not only derive pleasure from the exercise of altruism ('positive beneficence') but would aim to avoid inflicting pain on others ('negative beneficence'). Spencer also invented a precursor to the modern paper clip, though it looked more like a modern cotter pin. Green, G.E. Essay on Spencer’s Theory of Evolution – “Evolutionary Theory” or “The Laws of Evolution” is often regarded as the greatest contribu­tion of the British sociologist Herbert Spencer to the realm of social thought. The most important contribution of Herbert Spencer to Sociology is the theory of evolution. [48], Despite his reputation as a social Darwinist, Spencer's political thought has been open to multiple interpretations. 1853) – See: In 1844, Spencer published three articles on phrenology in, Ronald F. Cooney, "Herbert Spencer: Apostle of Liberty", Chris Matthew Sciabarra, "Libertarianism", in. He continued writing all his life, in later years often by dictation, until he succumbed to poor health at the age of 83. [38], Spencer's association with social Darwinism might have its origin in a specific interpretation of his support for competition. In Rudyard Kipling's novel Kim, the Anglophile Bengali spy Hurree Babu admires Herbert Spencer and quotes him to comic effect: "They are, of course, dematerialised phenomena. Volume I (1874–75; enlarged 1876, 1885) – Part I: Volume III – Part VI [published here in some editions]: Volume I (includes "The Development Hypothesis," "Progress: Its Law and Cause," "The Factors of Organic Evolution" and others). He utilized the principles of physical and biological evolution in order to elaborate and explain his theory of Social evolution. He goes on to say that America has failed to limit the immigration of Chinese and restrict their contact, especially sexual, with the presumed European stock. It may undergo formal changes. Spencer greatly influenced literature and rhetoric. He had been an evolutionist before Darwin's publication of Origins of the Species but without an effective theory of natural selection. Spencer first articulated his evolutionary perspective in his essay, 'Progress: Its Law and Cause', published in Chapman's Westminster Review in 1857, and which later formed the basis of the First Principles of a New System of Philosophy (1862). Spencer does not outline their traits in detail but points to their increased overall size, complexity, division of labour, popular density, integration and general cultural complexity. Examples are the Teutonic peoples in the fifth century, Homeric Greeks, Zew Zealanders, Hottentots Dahomans and Ashantees. Besides, the underlying principles of physical evolution are a movement from simple to complex and homogeneity to heterogeneity. "[37] Yet, in the same work, Spencer goes on to say that the incidental evolutionary benefits derived from such barbarous practices do not serve as justifications for them going forward. Spencer was born in Derby, England on 27 April 1820, the eldest of nine children, but the only one to survive infancy. His critique of the Boer War was especially scathing, and it contributed to his declining popularity in Britain.[18]. During his lifetime he achieved tremendous authority, mainly in English-speaking academia. Herbert Spencer's criticism. [8] Spencer's father was a religious dissenter who drifted from Methodism to Quakerism, and who seems to have transmitted to his son an opposition to all forms of authority. Nonetheless, unlike Thomas Henry Huxley, whose agnosticism was a militant creed directed at 'the unpardonable sin of faith' (in Adrian Desmond's phrase), Spencer insisted that he was not concerned to undermine religion in the name of science, but to bring about a reconciliation of the two. Huxley that met every month and included some of the most prominent thinkers of the Victorian age (three of whom would become presidents of the Royal Society). According to Spencer, all the phenomena of nature—the stars and planetary systems, the earth and all terrestrial phenomena, biological organisms and the development of species, all the psychological and sociological processes of human experience and behaviour-follow the definite pattern of change. Spencer himself introduced the biologist Thomas Henry Huxley, who would later win fame as 'Darwin's Bulldog' and who remained his lifelong friend. The movement from simple to compound societies—This is seen in four types of societies in terms of evolutionary levels. ... with a focus on political theory. He coined the term ‘survival of the fittest’ seven years before Darwin’s publication of his theory of natural history, The Origin of the Species in 1859. Content Filtrations 6. From the relatively incoherent to the relatively coherent? By the turn of the 20th century the first generation of German sociologists, most notably Max Weber, had presented methodological antipositivism. Spencer wrote of organisms developing from simple to more complex forms and spoke of this as progress. While his political and ethical writings had themes consistent with social Darwinism, such themes are absent in Spencer's sociological works, which focus on how processes of societal growth and differentiation lead to changing degrees of complexity in social organization [22]. Indeed, he thought that the Unknowable represented the ultimate stage in the evolution of religion, the final elimination of its last anthropomorphic vestiges. In his “First Principles” he traced everything in the world back through causal chains to two fundamental factors. Spencer adopted a utilitarian standard of ultimate value – the greatest happiness of the greatest number – and the culmination of the evolutionary process would be the maximization of utility. Like physical evolution also in social evolution there is a movement from simple to complex. He came to predict that social welfare programmes would eventually lead to socialisation of the means of production, saying "all socialism is slavery." The term strongly suggests natural selection, yet Spencer saw evolution as extending into realms of sociology and ethics, so he also supported Lamarckism. Despite Spencer's early struggles to establish himself as a writer, by the 1870s he had become the most famous philosopher of the age. Comte's Système de Philosophie Positive had been written with the ambition of demonstrating the universality of natural law, and Spencer was to follow Comte in the scale of his ambition. From simple to complex? Herbert Spencer's theory of education analyzed into eight factors. Spencer denounced Irish land reform, compulsory education, laws to regulate safety at work, prohibition and temperance laws, tax funded libraries, and welfare reforms. It is perhaps the best testimony to the influence of Spencer's beliefs and writings that his reach was so diverse. "Commandeering Time: The Ideological Status of Time in the Social Darwinism of Herbert Spencer" (2011) 57, Burrow, J. W. "Herbert Spencer: The Philosopher of Evolution", This page was last edited on 11 March 2021, at 22:09. Spencer has borrowed the idea from biological evolution that those cultures survive which are able to adjust themselves with the changing circumstances. Spencer says." However, he recognized that our inherited moral constitution does not currently permit us to behave in full compliance with the code of Absolute Ethics, and for this reason we need a code of 'Relative Ethics' which takes into account the distorting factors of our present imperfections. Spencer was educated in empirical science by his father, while the members of the Derby Philosophical Society introduced him to pre-Darwinian concepts of biological evolution, particularly those of Erasmus Darwin and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck. When the great conception, thus pursued, had grown into a clear, coherent, and well-defined doctrine, he took up the subject of psychology, and, combining the principle of differentiation with that of integration, he placed the interpretation of mental phenomena upon the basis of Evolution. Spencer says, only strong creatures survive and evolve; only strong makes progress. The theory which Mr. Doubleday seeks to establish is, that throughout both the animal and vegetable kingdoms— "Over feeding checks increase; whilst, on the other hand, a limited or deficient nutriment stimulates and adds to it." Herbert Spencer’s Theory of Social Evolution (Explained with Diagram) The most important contribution of Herbert Spencer to Sociology is the theory of evolution. Spencer adopted his principle of evolution from naturalist Charles Darwin. One who is conspicuous as the exponent of this view writes: "As I take it, universal history, the history of what man has accomplished in this world, is at … For Spencer, evolution pervaded the inorganic as well as organic realm. (P. Ithaca: Conwell University Press. Nevertheless, he devoted much of his efforts in reinforcing his arguments and preventing the misinterpretation of his monumental theory of non-interference. So Spencer utilized both physical and biological evolution for his theory of social evolution. Thomas Spencer also imprinted on his nephew his own firm free-trade and anti-statist political views. The term strongly suggests natural selection, yet Spencer saw evolution as extending into realms of sociology and ethics, so he also supp… Change from militant society to industrial society. In response to being told that British troops were in danger during the Second Afghan War (1878-1880) he replied: "When men hire themselves out to shoot other men to order, asking nothing about the justice of their cause, I don't care if they are shot themselves. (ii) The Law of the indestructibility of matter. Arnold Bennett greatly praised First Principles, and the influence it had on Bennett may be seen in his many novels. Writing after various developments in biology, however, Spencer rejected what he regarded as the ideological aspects of Comte's positivism, attempting to reformulate social science in terms of his principle of evolution, which he applied to the biological, psychological and sociological aspects of the universe. Herbert Spencer: Herbert Spencer was a prominent functionalist sociologist, who likened the functioning parts of society as organs within a body. Arguments Against the Theory . While most philosophers fail to achieve much of a following outside the academy of their professional peers, by the 1870s and 1880s Spencer had achieved an unparalleled popularity, as the sheer volume of his sales indicate. Privacy Policy 8. Spencer, is the trebly compound societies that are actually the great civilized 59 HOSSAIN, D., M., MUSTARI, S., (2012) A Critical Analysis of Herbert Spencer’s Theory of Evolution, Postmodern Openings, 2012, Volume 3, Issue 2, June, pp: 55-66 Spencer was born in Derby, England, on 27 April 1820, the son of William George Spencer (generally called George). Aveling, Eleanor Marx. In Honderich, Ted. Spencer in his book Principles of Biology (1864), proposed a pangenesis theory that involved "physiological units" assumed to be related to specific body parts and responsible for the transmission of characteristics to offspring. Its publisher, John Chapman, introduced Spencer to his salon which was attended by many of the leading radical and progressive thinkers of the capital, including John Stuart Mill, Harriet Martineau, George Henry Lewes and Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot), with whom he was briefly romantically linked. He strongly disagreed with Comte. Upton Sinclair, in One Clear Call, 1948, quips that "Huxley said that Herbert Spencer's idea of a tragedy was a generalization killed by a fact; ..."[55], English philosopher and political theorist, For other people named Herbert Spencer, see. The end goal of this progress, says Spencer, is overall human happiness and prosperity, namely, the surplus of pleasure over pain. The society is moving from homogeneous to heterogeneous structure. This figure did not differ much from his sales in his native Britain, and once editions in the rest of the world are added in the figure of a million copies seems like a conservative estimate. A philosopher of science, Comte had proposed a theory of sociocultural evolution that society progresses by a general law of three stages. Given the persistence of force, the indestructibility of the basic elements of material substance, the continuity of motion and the like, Spencer says, “Why were the changes of phenomena from homogeneous to the heterogeneous? Herbert Spencer. (i) The Law of persistence of force. Herbert Spencer (27 April 1820 – 8 December 1903) was an English philosopher, biologist, anthropologist, and sociologist famous for his hypothesis of social Darwinism whereby superior physical force shapes history. 2 - Online Library of Liberty", Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement, "Herbert Spencer on the Land Question: A Criticism, by Alfred Russel Wallace", "Herbert Spencer Anti-Defamation League (Part 423 of ??? Analysts: Tom Seidenberger, Mary Weiss. On the other hand, the directions of motion of the molecules become more heterogeneous. In spite of the above criticisms made by some of the social thinkers, Spencer’s theory of social evolution is a master key to the riddles of the universe. Hermeneuticians of the period, such as Wilhelm Dilthey, would pioneer the distinction between the natural sciences (Naturwissenschaften) and human sciences (Geisteswissenschaften). Spencer published his first book, Social Statics (1851), whilst working as sub-editor on the free-trade journal The Economist from 1848 to 1853. He was recognized as one of the important social philosophers of the 19th Century. In Social StaticsSpencer stresses that this evolution is not something that can be simply imposed on an individual by the state o… Every phenomenon must submit to the process of dissolution. In 1858 Spencer produced an outline of what was to become the System of Synthetic Philosophy. This evolutionary process could be found at work, Spencer believed, throughout the cosmos. The weak is gradually eliminated. One of the most forceful critics of Carlyle's formulation of the great man theory was Herbert Spencer, who believed that attributing historical events to the decisions of individuals was an unscientific position. Society is also moving from indefinite to definite stage. 'Erasmus Darwin, Herbert Spencer and the Origins of the Evolutionary Worldview in British Provincial Scientific Culture'. Marxist theorist Georgi Plekhanov, in his 1909 book Anarchism and Socialism, labelled Spencer a "conservative Anarchist. Doubly compound societies were completely settled, were more integrated and a larger and more definite political structure, a religious hierarchy, a more or less rigid caste system and more complex division of labour. "[4] Spencer was "the single most famous European intellectual in the closing decades of the nineteenth century"[5][6] but his influence declined sharply after 1900: "Who now reads Spencer?" Herbert Spencer (1820–1903) was an English philosopher who initiated a philosophy called ‘Social Darwinism’. [52] He also corresponded with Kaneko Kentaro, warning him of the dangers of imperialism. If so the power and the meaning of music become comprehensible; but otherwise they are a mystery. It is interesting that in a new research Tracey Adams, studying professional self-regulation in Canada, points explicitly t… There are the more important factors which he emphasized: Spencer argued that the condition of homogeneity is in-fact a condition of unstable equilibrium.