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Spencer, Herbert (1820-1903)

From Encyclopedia of Time: Science, Philosophy, Theology, & Culture
Herbert Spencer was an English philosopher, evolutionist, and political theorist, whose theories treated the universe and time in general with scientific minuteness and a synthesis of speculation and positivism. He is often cited with coining the popular expression “survival of the fittest,” which later would be used frequently by social Darwinists. Spencer was born in Derby, England, on April 27, 1820. His early influences were chiefly his father and uncle, both of whom were teachers well acquainted with the natural sciences. Initially gaining a job as a civil engineer, to cultivate the skills learned from his father and uncle, Spencer went on to become a subeditor for the Economist , a newspaper noted for its liberal tone. During this time, Spencer was able to pen Social Statics (1851), which supported the popular notion of laissez-faire economics. In 1858, however, Spencer set out to create a synthetic philosophy, which aimed to unite the disciplines of biology, sociology, …
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Herbert Spencer (The Library of Congress)
Herbert Spencer was an English philosopher, scientist, engineer, and political economist. In his day his works were important in popularizing the concept of evolution and played an important part in the development of economics, political science, biology, and philosophy . Herbert Spencer was born…
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Full text Article Spencer, Herbert (1820-1903)

From Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology
Widely regarded as the most important proponent of social Darwinism , Spencer's evolutionary ideas were first formulated before Charles Darwin 's Origin of Species (1859). His writings were very considerable and wide-ranging. They covered the rearing of children ( Education , 1861), political…
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Full text Article Spencer, Herbert

From The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology
The principal feature of Spencer's sociology was its attempt to combine utilitarian individualism with an organic model of the evolution of social systems. Influenced by the biological theories of natural selection, Spencer used two separate versions of social evolution. He argued that social…
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Full text Article Spencer, Herbert (1820-1903)

From Encyclopedia of Philosophers on Religion
Spencer’s parents were both originally Methodists. But while the mother remained faithful to her Wesleyan convictions, the father, who came from a family of nonconformist Dissenters, developed at about the age of forty a preference for the Quakers and began frequenting their Sunday morning meetings. …
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Born in Derby, England. Within his lifetime Spencer was both acclaimed as one of the world's great philosophers and dismissed as an evolutionist whom time had passed by. His multivolume magnum opus, The Synthetic Philosophy (1860-1896), includes Spencer's major work in moral theory, The Principles…
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Full text Article Spencer, Herbert (1820–1903).

From The Oxford Companion to British History
Philosopher. Spencer was the son of a Derbyshire schoolteacher of radical and dissenting views. In the 1840s he joined Sturge's Complete Suffrage Union and in 1848 became subeditor of The Economist . His Social Statics , published in 1851, allowed the state only the minimum of defence and police…
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Full text Article Spencer, Herbert (1820–1903),

From Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
English philosopher, social reformer, and editor of The Economist . In epistemology, Spencer adopted the nineteenth-century trend toward positivism: the only reliable knowledge of the universe is to be found in the sciences. His ethics were utilitarian, following Bentham and J. S. Mill: pleasure and…
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English philosopher. He expounded his evolutionary theories in Principles of Psychology (1855), and was a leading advocate of ‘Social Darwinism’. Other works included Social Statics (1851), System of Synthetic Philosophy (1862-93) and an Autobiography (1904). No one can be perfectly free until all…
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Full text Article Herbert Spencer (1820–1903)

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Education has for its object the formation of character. Social Statics 2, ch. 17 A living thing is distinguished from a dead thing by the multiplicity of the changes at any moment taking place in it. Principles of Biology pt 1, ch. 4 No one can be perfectly free till all are free; no one can be…
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