First Principles
Herbert Spencer
- Herbert
- Spencer
- was
- an
- English
- philosopher,
- biologist,
- anthropologist,
- sociologist,
- and
- prominent
- classical
- liberal
- political
- theorist
- of
- the
- Victorian
- era.
- Spencer
- developed
- an
- all-embracing
- conception
- of
- evolution
- as
- the
- progressive
- development
- of
- the
- physical
- world,
- biological
- organisms,
- the
- human
- mind,
- and
- human
- culture
- and
- societies.
- 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.
- During
- his
- lifetime
- he
- achieved
- tremendous
- authority,
- mainly
- in
- English-speaking
- academia.
- "The
- only
- other
- English
- philosopher
- to
- have
- achieved
- anything
- like
- such
- widespread
- popularity
- was
- Bertrand
- Russell,
- and
- that
- was
- in
- the
- 20th
- century."
- Spencer
- was
- "the
- single
- most
- famous
- European
- intellectual
- in
- the
- closing
- decades
- of
- the
- nineteenth
- century"but
- his
- influence
- declined
- sharply
- after
- 1900:
- "Who
- now
- reads
- Spencer?"
- asked
- Talcott
- Parsons
- in
- 1937.
- Spencer
- is
- best
- known
- for
- 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
- term
- strongly
- suggests
- natural
- selection,
- yet
- as
- Spencer
- extended
- evolution
- into
- realms
- of
- sociology
- and
- ethics,
- he
- also
- made
- use
- of Lamarckism.
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