Herbert Spencer
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| Western Philosophy 19th-century philosophy |
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Herbert Spencer
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Name |
Herbert Spencer |
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Birth |
27 April, 1820 |
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Death |
8 December, 1903 |
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School/tradition |
Evolutionism, Positivism, |
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Main interests |
Evolution, Positivism, Laissez-faire, utilitarianism |
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Notable ideas |
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Influences |
Charles Darwin, Auguste Comte, John Stuart Mill, George Henry Lewes, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, Thomas Huxley |
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Influenced |
Charles Darwin, Henry Sidgwick, William Graham Sumner, Thorstein Veblen, Emile Durkheim, Alfred Marshall, Henri Bergson, Nikolay Mikhaylovsky |
Herbert Spencer (April 27, 1820 – December 8, 1903) was an English philosopher; prominent classical liberal political theorist; and sociological theorist of the Victorian era.
Spencer developed an all-embracing conception of evolution. He saw evolution as the progressive development of the physical world, biological organisms, the human mind, and human culture and societies. Spencer never married, he remained a bachelor. He contributed to a wide range of subjects, including ethics, religion, politics, philosophy, biology, sociology, and psychology.
He is best known for coining the phrase, "survival of the fittest". He did this in Principles of Biology (1864), after reading Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species.[1][2] This term strongly suggests natural selection, yet as Spencer extended evolution into realms of sociology and ethics, he made use of Lamarckism rather than natural selection.
[change] References
- ↑ Pioneers of Psychology (2001 Tour) - School of Education & Psychology. Retrieved on 29 August 2007.
- ↑ Maurice E. Stucke. Better Competition Advocacy (pdf). Retrieved on 29 August 2007. “Herbert Spencer in his Principles of Biology of 1864, vol. 1, p. 444, wrote “This survival of the fittest, which I have here sought to express in mechanical terms, is that which Mr. Darwin has called ‘natural selection’, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life.””
