So Spencer utilized both physical and biological evolution for his theory of social evolution. (iii) Principle of least resistance and greatest attraction. (ii) Principle of formal changes and uniformity. Spencer followed Comte in aiming for the unification of scientific truth; it was in this sense that his philosophy aimed to be 'synthetic.' 3. Spencer believed in the doctrine of the “Survival of the fittest” as expounded by Darwin. His father, George, was a school teacher, but an unconventional man, and Spencer's family were Methodist 'Dissenters,' with Quaker sympathies. His ashes are interred in the eastern side of London's Highgate Cemetery facing Karl Marx's grave. Spencer vehemently attacked the widespread enthusiasm for annexation of colonies and imperial expansion, which subverted all he had predicted about evolutionary progress from 'militant' to 'industrial' societies and states. Of course during formal change the quantum of matter and motion remains static. The basic elements of matter and energy in the world are neither created, nor destroyed but conserved. 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. (P. He never married, and after 1855 was a perpetual hypochondriac[16] who complained endlessly of pains and maladies that no physician could diagnose at that time. Wells used Spencer's ideas as a theme in his novella, The Time Machine, employing them to explain the evolution of man into two species. There exists a uniformity or regularity of relationships among defined phenomena in the world. His uncle, the Reverend Thomas Spencer,[9] vicar of Hinton Charterhouse near Bath, completed Spencer's limited formal education by teaching him some mathematics and physics, and enough Latin to enable him to translate some easy texts. Matter as one form or aspect of energy is never destroyed. "libertarianism, left-". "[25] Spencer's last years were characterized by a collapse of his initial optimism, replaced instead by a pessimism regarding the future of mankind. Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) war ein Gründungsvater der modernen Soziologie, ein Pionier der Evolutionstheorie – seine Theorien wurden vor denen von Charles Darwin entwickelt -, eine wichtige Figur der modernen Bildung – sein Name schmückt immer noch das Gebäude der Fakultät Bildung der Stanford Universität – und ein Philosoph, dessen Arbeit in Ethik und Erkenntnistheorie große … [51] Spencer also influenced the Japanese Westernizer Tokutomi Soho, who believed that Japan was on the verge of transitioning from a "militant society" to an "industrial society," and needed to quickly jettison all things Japanese and take up Western ethics and learning. 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. In his famed work Social Statics (1850), he argued that imperialism had served civilization by clearing the inferior races off the earth: "The forces which are working out the great scheme of perfect happiness, taking no account of incidental suffering, exterminate such sections of mankind as stand in their way. "The strange capacity which we have for being affected by melody and harmony, may be taken to imply both that it is within the possibilities of our nature to realize those intenser delights they dimly suggest, and that they are in some way concerned in the realization of them. Members included physicist-philosopher John Tyndall and Darwin's cousin, the banker and biologist Sir John Lubbock. Compound societies were presented as having generally come about through either a peaceful or a violent merger of two or more simple societies. He was probably the first, and possibly the only, philosopher in history to sell over a million copies of his works during his own lifetime. 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). 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. 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. Units which are alike will respond in a similar fashion, whereas units which are different will respond differently. The force, the elements of matter, the motion are never lost in the process of change. 1853) – See: In 1844, Spencer published three articles on phrenology in, Ronald F. Cooney, "Herbert Spencer: Apostle of Liberty", Chris Matthew Sciabarra, "Libertarianism", in. asked Talcott Parsons in 1937.[7]. However, Spencer differed from Comte in believing it was possible to discover a single law of universal application which he identified with progressive development and was to call the principle of evolution. The movement from simple to compound societies—This is seen in four types of societies in terms of evolutionary levels. In Lochner v. New York, conservative justices of the United States Supreme Court could find inspiration in Spencer's writings for striking down a New York law limiting the number of hours a baker could work during the week, on the ground that this law restricted liberty of contract. In physical evolution, a movement is from indefinite incoherent situation to definite and coherent situation. 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 is often, quite erroneously, believed to have merely appropriated and generalised Darwin's work on natural selection. (i) Persistence of the relationship between the forces. He had exerted a profound influence … It also lacks uniformity. Spencer says, only strong creatures survive and evolve; only strong makes progress. Spencer believed in two kinds of knowledge: knowledge gained by the individual and knowledge gained by the race. Spencerian views in 21st-century circulation derive from his political theories and memorable attacks on the reform movements of the late 19th century. According to Spencer there must be harmony among the various laws of evolution. Additionally, Herbert Spencer states that Dissolution goes towards Equilibration, a state of the system with no differential Force between its parts. As a polymath, he contributed to a wide range of subjects, including ethics, religion, anthropology, economics, political theory, philosophy, literature, astronomy, biology, sociology, and psychology. Offer Herbert Spencer, Sociological Theory, and the Professions. These hypothetical hereditary units were similar to Darwin's gemmules.[21]. that the character of Vershinin in Anton Chekhov's play The Three Sisters is a dedicated Spencerian. He states "if they mix they must form a bad hybrid" regarding the issue of Chinese and (ethnically European) Americans. An allied class, equally unprepared to interpret sociological phenomena scientifically, is the class which sees in the course of civilization little else than a record of remarkable persons and their doings. (i) The Law of persistence of force. Spencer adopted his principle of evolution from naturalist Charles Darwin. Content Filtrations 6. It makes for increasing complexity. Though Spencer made some valuable contributions to early sociology, not least in his influence on structural functionalism, his attempt to introduce Lamarckian or Darwinian ideas into the realm of sociology was unsuccessful. But the fundamental nature of matter never changes. Spencer’s ideals have left an indelible impression on the succeeding writers. Speakers have persuasive effect not only by the reasoning of their words, but by their cadence and tone – the musical qualities of their voice serve as "the commentary of the emotions upon the propositions of the intellect," as Spencer put it. 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. He rejected theology as representing the 'impiety of the pious.' 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). The end point of the evolutionary process would be the creation of 'the perfect man in the perfect society' with human beings becoming completely adapted to social life, as predicted in Spencer's first book. Thomas Spencer also imprinted on his nephew his own firm free-trade and anti-statist political views. This is the case since, owing to the inherent limitations of the human mind, it is only possible to obtain knowledge of phenomena, not of the reality ('the absolute') underlying phenomena. [23] In the 1890s, Émile Durkheim established formal academic sociology with a firm emphasis on practical social research. The reforms, he said, were tantamount to "socialism", which he said was about the same as "slavery" in terms of limiting human freedom. From the in differentiated to the differentiation of specialized structure and functions?”. 'Erasmus Darwin, Herbert Spencer and the Origins of the Evolutionary Worldview in British Provincial Scientific Culture'. This again means the invariable loss of individual’s freedom. Examples are the Eskimos, the Fuegians, Guiana tribes, the new Caledonians and the Pueblo Indians. He came to predict that social welfare programmes would eventually lead to socialisation of the means of production, saying "all socialism is slavery." They had low degrees of differentiation, specialization, and integration. The principles described by Herbert Spencer received different interpretations. From the analysis of physical evolution Spencer convinced that the underlying principles of all evolution are two: (ii) Movement from homogeneous to heterogeneous. "[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?" (iii) The third law is, “motion is continuous and it is never wholly dissipated”. Spencer was referenced by George Eliot, Leo Tolstoy, Machado de Assis, Thomas Hardy, Bolesław Prus, George Bernard Shaw, Abraham Cahan, Richard Austin Freeman, D. H. Lawrence, and Jorge Luis Borges. The term strongly suggests natural selection, yet Spencer saw evolution as extending into realms of sociology and ethics, so he also supp… Spencer termed this code of conduct 'Absolute Ethics' which provided a scientifically-grounded moral system that could substitute for the supernaturally-based ethical systems of the past. Spencer's volumes on biology, psychology, and sociology were all intended to demonstrate the existence of natural laws in these specific disciplines. In 1858, Herbert Spencer produced an outline of what was to become the System of Synthetic Philosophy. For him as for Mill, liberty and justice wereequivalent. Hitler used this idea to justify his dislike of the Jews and other races. These are matter and motion—two aspects of force. Diversity feeds upon itself. By the turn of the 20th century the first generation of German sociologists, most notably Max Weber, had presented methodological antipositivism. 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]. edited 11/19/11. Whereas in biology the competition of various organisms can result in the death of a species or organism, the kind of competition Spencer advocated is closer to the one used by economists, where competing individuals or firms improve the well being of the rest of society. The psychological – and hence also the moral – constitution which had been bequeathed to the present generation by our ancestors, and which we in turn would hand on to future generations, was in the process of gradual adaptation to the requirements of living in society. 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. Narissa F. Cueva. The professions had an innovative power in social life: once “the defense of life, the regulation of life and the sustentation of life” have been achieved, then the professions in general foster the “augmentation of life” (Spencer, 1896, p. 181). Spencer thought that the origin of music is to be found in impassioned oratory. [30] By the 1880s, he was denouncing "the new Toryism", that is, the "social reformist wing" of the Liberal Party, the wing to some extent hostile to prime minister William Ewart Gladstone, this faction of the Liberal Party Spencer compared to the interventionist "Toryism" of such people as the former Conservative Party prime minister Benjamin Disraeli. Society is also moving from indefinite to definite stage. On the other hand, the directions of motion of the molecules become more heterogeneous. The changes in the form of matter are responsible for the evolutionary process. In physical evolution, a movement is from indefinite incoherent situation to definite and coherent situation. Plagiarism Prevention 4. The end goal of this progress, says Spencer, is overall human happiness and prosperity, namely, the surplus of pleasure over pain. (2002).Classical Sociological theory… Herbert Spencer was born into a nineteenth-century world where the traditional logic of imperialism interacted with new developments like the Industrial Revolution, and new ideas like free trade and liberalism that emerged out of the Enlightenment of the previous century. [52] He also corresponded with Kaneko Kentaro, warning him of the dangers of imperialism. Over the course of many generations the evolutionary process would ensure that human beings would become less aggressive and increasingly altruistic, leading eventually to a perfect society in which no one would cause another person pain. The basis for Spencer's appeal to many of his generation was that he appeared to offer a ready-made system of belief which could substitute for conventional religious faith at a time when orthodox creeds were crumbling under the advances of modern science. Spencer aimed to free prose writing from as much "friction and inertia" as possible, so that the reader would not be slowed by strenuous deliberations concerning the proper context and meaning of a sentence. 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. A strong creature is one who has the ability to adjust himself with the ever changing conditions of environment. Herbert Spencer was arguably the greatest English philosopher of the 19th century. 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. Spencer says." The most important contribution of Herbert Spencer to Sociology is the theory of evolution. He influenced not only the administrators who shaped their societies' inner workings, but also the artists who helped shape those societies' ideals and beliefs. Herbert Spencer's Critique of 'Great Man Theory'. It is axiomatic to Spencer that ultimately all aspects of the universe, whether organic or inorganic, social or non-social is subject to the laws of evolution. Spencer originated the expression "survival of the fittest", which he coined in Principles of Biology (1864) after reading Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species. This permitted the adoption of a developmental perspective not merely in terms of the individual (as in traditional psychology), but also of the species and the race. At Spencer's funeral the Indian nationalist leader Shyamji Krishna Varma announced a donation of £1,000 to establish a lectureship at Oxford University in tribute to Spencer and his work.[19]. He had been an evolutionist before Darwin's publication of Origins of the Species but without an effective theory of natural selection. 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. The exception to Spencer's growing conservatism was that he remained throughout his life an ardent opponent of imperialism and militarism. … Be he human or be he brute — the hindrance must be got rid of. Content Guidelines 2. Whether we are concerned with a Creator or the substratum which underlies our experience of phenomena, we can frame no conception of it. Like physical evolution also in social evolution there is a movement from simple to complex. 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. Society, which Spencer conceptualised as a 'social organism' evolved from the simpler state to the more complex according to the universal law of evolution. Although Spencer lost his Christian faith as a teenager and later rejected any 'anthropomorphic' conception of the Deity, he nonetheless held fast to this conception at an almost sub-conscious level. His political philosophy could both provide inspiration to those who believed that individuals were masters of their fate, who should brook no interference from a meddling state, and those who believed that social development required a strong central authority. In post-1863-Uprising Poland, many of Spencer's ideas became integral to the dominant fin-de-siècle ideology, "Polish Positivism". All phenomena according to Spencer are in a process of adjustment and accommodation until a moving equilibrium is reached. Spencer argued that the evolution of human societies, far from being different from other evolutionary phenomena. Assesses the importance of the English philosopher Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) for curriculum development. No two laws should contradict each other. Disclaimer 9. 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. For evolution, motion is essential, but it is not required that motion should be at one level all the time. The weak is gradually eliminated. It has also been suggested[by whom?] Herbert Spencer, a British social philosopher and sociologist, was a widely recognized visionary and the founder of the theory of sociocultural evolution, and he had a major influence on Charles Darwin and his theory of biological evolution. (iii) Principle of least resistance or great attraction: The direction of evolution is always towards the line of least resistance or greatest attraction. Spencer was born in Derby, England, on 27 April 1820, the son of William George Spencer (generally called George). "[42] The aspect of his thought that emphasised individual self-improvement found a ready audience in the skilled working class. Ithaca: Conwell University Press. Read this article to learn about the contribution of Herbert Spencer to sociology! 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. Every phenomenon must submit to the process of dissolution. Analysts: Tom Seidenberger, Mary Weiss. Learn More. (ii) The Second law is “matter is indestructible”. Mere survival for existence is not enough for man. During his lifetime he achieved tremendous authority, mainly in English-speaking academia. While the overall influence that "The Philosophy of Style" had on the field of rhetoric was not as far-reaching as his contribution to other fields, Spencer's voice lent authoritative support to formalist views of rhetoric. (ii) The Law of the indestructibility of matter. However, it was the friendship of Evans and Lewes that acquainted him with John Stuart Mill's A System of Logic and with Auguste Comte's positivism and which set him on the road to his life's work. There were also some quite significant satellites such as liberal clergyman Arthur Stanley, the Dean of Westminster; and guests such as Charles Darwin and Hermann von Helmholtz were entertained from time to time. From the relatively incoherent to the relatively coherent? Spencer believed that this evolutionary mechanism was also necessary to explain 'higher' evolution, especially the social development of humanity. The Psychology, he believed, would do for the human mind what Isaac Newton had done for matter. 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. He continued writing all his life, in later years often by dictation, until he succumbed to poor health at the age of 83. Spencer viewed private charity positively, encouraging both voluntary association and informal care to aid those in need, rather than relying on government bureaucracy or force. Herbert Spencer: Herbert Spencer was a prominent functionalist sociologist, who likened the functioning parts of society as organs within a body. The law says that everything tends to uniformity and a dead level, diminishing (not increasing) heterogeneity'. [20] The alleged contradiction between Spencer's theory and the second law of thermodynamics might arise from limiting the definition of homogeneity and heterogeneity to the homogeneity and heterogeneity of the spatial distribution of matter. Austrian School economist Murray Rothbard called Social Statics "the greatest single work of libertarian political philosophy ever written.