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Herbert Spencer

Herbert Spencer. (1820-1903). "Every man is free to do that which he wills, provided he infringes not the equal freedom of any other man.". http://gerald-massey.org.uk/holyoake/images/herbert_spencer.jpg. Background. More works published: The social Organism (1860)

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Herbert Spencer

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  1. Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) "Every man is free to do that which he wills, provided he infringes not the equal freedom of any other man." http://gerald-massey.org.uk/holyoake/images/herbert_spencer.jpg

  2. Background • More works published: • The social Organism (1860) • First Principles (1862) • Principles of Biology (1864-67) • The study of sociology (1873) • The principles of Ethics- many volumes (1870s) • The Principles of Sociology- many volumes (1890s) • The Man Versus the State (1884) • Autobiography (1904)

  3. Concepts Survival of The Fittest Coined the term, not Darwin Eliminates unfavorable variations of species Focused on both biological and social processes Society is similar to an organism General law of organization: common to both biological and social organism

  4. Concepts Utilitarianism • Equal liberty principle • Broadly utilitarianism view • Goal of human action • Rejects conventional Benthamite view of public interest • Absolute rights of individuals

  5. Intellectual Influences ThomasMalthus • An Essay on the Principles of Population • Although his outlook on the problem of overpopulation was not quite as pessimistic, Spencer believed that overpopulation would lead to the “survival of the fittest” • “Survival of the fittest” had two basic outcomes • The excess of fertility could stimulate greater activity • The conflict for scarcity of goods would accelerate into political and territorial conflicts

  6. Intellectual Influences Biology • Spencer wrote the first volume of the Principles of Biology in 1864 and wrote the second in 1867 • He agreed with post-Newtonian views of science • Universal laws exist that could explain the phenomena in the world • Proposed three propositions: • The law of persistence force • The indestructibility of matter • The continuity of motion

  7. Intellectual Influences Biology • Spencer acknowledged the role of environmental variables on social organization and agreed that the Super Organic (society) and the Organism (body) had six similarities: • Society and individuals grow • As size increases so does complexity • Progression in structure is accompanied by a differentiation in function • Parts of the whole are interdependent of one another • Every organism is a society • Some parts die, and some parts go on.

  8. Intellectual Influences Origin of Species in 1859 was welcomed warmly by Spencer. Darwin’s theory of evolution offered Spencer a respected intellectual tool for justifying his laissez-faire beliefs. Darwin’s theory of evolution and Spencer’s survival of the fittest concepts have become mistakenly interchangeable. Charles Darwin

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