( ) "Every man is free to do that which he wills, provided he infringes not the equal freedom of any other man."

Background and Family Born in Derby, England April 27, 1820 Eldest of 9 children Only one to survive infancy Weak & sickly child No formal education Father (George) was teacher Taught him Sciences and Math

Family Influences Father was unkind to his mother Herbert thought of his mother as “simple-minded” Uncle Thomas taught principles of utilitarian political philosophical ◦ 18th & 19th-century--Jeremy Bentham and 19th-century English philosopher John Stuart MillJeremy BenthamJohn Stuart Mill

Family Influences Early age, Herbert strongly influenced by his father: ◦ Individualism ◦ Anti-establishment ◦ Anti-clerical ◦ Early years showed resistance to authority and independence

Career Civil engineer for railway Found fossils doing railway work ◦ Sparked interest in evolution Eventually quit job to pursue other interests

Career Began to publish articles in radical press: ◦ Argued for extreme restrictions on government ◦ Against welfare ◦ Against national education ◦ Against established church

Career Became subeditor: London Economist ◦ Laissez-faire beliefs finished 1 st book Social Statics ◦ Power should be given to whole society ◦ Lays basis for a limited state

Career During writing he experienced insomnia Could only work few hours a day Used substantial amounts of opium Suffered nervous breakdowns

Career Experienced strange sensations in his head ◦ He called "the mischief“ Known for eccentricities like wearing ear-plugs to avoid over-excitement ◦ Especially when he could not win an argument

Career Uncle died and left Spencer money nd book The Principles of Psychology Soon after, he suffered from a nervous illness

More Publications ◦ The Social Organism (1860) ◦ First Principles (1862) ◦ Principles of Biology ( ) ◦ 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)

Social Environment—Ideas Emerging upper class Industrial working class ◦ Drawn to socialism Notions of inequality & social difference

“Middle-class Rural Radicalism” 1. Opposed centralized 1. Opposed centralized authority authority 2. Supported separation of church & state church & state 3. Anti-aristocratic ◦ Aristocrats are lazy

“Middle-class Rural Radicalism” 4. Against socialism 5. Anti-military 6. For secular progress & human reason 7. Meritocracy

“Antigovernment Individualism” ◦ Small government is best ◦ Government provides: 1. Military 2. Protection for individual rights

Evolution Spencer’s foremost concern was with evolutionary changes in social structures. Evolution of societies is special case of a universally applicable natural law

“Naturalistic Evolutionism” 1.Applies to all natural phenomena 2.Sequences of growth & development 3.Slow, step by step progress

Evolution Universal process Explains earliest changes which universe is supposed to have undergone And latest changes in society and the products of social life

Evolution "There can be no complete acceptance of sociology as a science, so long as the belief in a social order not conforming to natural law survives" (1891, p. 394).

Cultural evolution ◦ Humans adapt to environmental changes through culture rather than biological adaptation ◦ Can not be stopped ◦ Minimal government intervention ◦ Benefits of individualism and Industrial Revolution Evolution

Societal Complexity ◦ Increase in social groups ◦ Increase in complexity of social structure Differentiation of Functions ◦ Creation of specialized social roles and institutions ◦ Interdependence of the parts of society Growth, Structure, and Differentiation

Society development Social institutions arise from structural requirements Division of labor Functionalism

Ethnocentrism “Instead of passing over as of no account or else regarding as purely mischievous, the superstitions of primitive man, we must inquire what part they play in social evolution" (1891, p. 339).

Spencer--Coined the term Eliminates unfavorable variations of species Focused on both biological and social processes Appeared to be cold-hearted toward poor, widowed, and orphaned Survival of The Fittest

Two Classifications of Society 1. Militant 2. Industrial Spencer—Difference is in social regulation

Militant & Industrial Societies Rather than based on physical and biological environment Classification hypothesis: ◦ Social structure is affected by relations a society has to other societies

Militant & Industrial Societies Peaceful relations with neighbors  Relatively weak and diffuse systems of government Hostile relations  Coercive and centralized authoritarian regimes

Militant & Industrial Societies Characteristic trait of militant societies is compulsion (coercion) Industrial type of society is based on voluntary cooperation

Militant & Industrial Societies Militant--Industrial classification scheme gave him a pessimistic view of the future of mankind.

Militant & Industrial Societies “If we contrast the period from 1815 to 1850 with the period from 1850 to the present time, we cannot fail to see that all along with increased armaments, more frequent conflicts, and revived military sentiment, there has been a spread of compulsory regulations.... The freedom of individuals has been in many ways actually diminished.... And undeniably this is a return towards the coercive discipline which pervades the whole social life where the militant type is pre-eminent.?

Intellectual Influences An Essay on the Principles of Population ◦ Spencer’s outlook on the problem of overpopulation was not quite as pessimistic as Malthus’ ◦ Spencer believed that overpopulation would lead to the “survival of the fittest” Thomas Malthus

Survival of the Fittest Two basic outcomes 1.Excess fertility could stimulate greater activity 2.Conflict due to scarcity of goods accelerate into political and territorial conflicts

Intellectual Influences Spencer acknowledged role of environmental variables on social organization Agreed that the Super Organic (society) and the Organism (body) had six similarities: 1.Society and individuals grow 2.As size increases so does complexity 3.Progression in structure is accompanied by a differentiation in function 4.Parts of the whole are interdependent of one another 5.Every organism is a society 6.Some parts die, and some parts go on. Biology

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

Intellectual Influences Spencer not overly impressed with Comte. Areas of agreement 1.Knowledge comes from positive methods 2.Invariable laws can be discovered and utilized 3.Different branches of knowledge form a rational whole. 4.Social phenomena form an interdependent whole 5.Both developed theories of evolution and progress 6.Spencer accepted Comte’s term of sociology for the science of superorganic bodies. Auguste Comte

Intellectual Influences Spencer disagreed with Comte: 1.Societies passed through three distinct stages. 2.Government can use the laws of sociology to reconstruct society 3.Sciences have developed in a particular order. 4.Especially disagreed with Comte’s sense of a positivist religion and sociologist-priests. 5.Comte believed that individuals could be taught morality, largely through the positivist religion, but Spencer ridiculed the idea that morality could be taught by any means, let alone religion or the government. Auguste Comte

Spencer’s Other Intellectual Roots Thomas Paine ◦ Individual rights ◦ Human perfectibility Adam Smith ◦ No government interference ◦ Invisible hand of the market Marian Evans (aka George Eliot) ◦ Feminism (for awhile)

“Social Darwinism” 1. Not Darwinism ◦ Darwinism is Not teleological 2. Survival of the fittest = Spencerism Is teleolocigal-> Perfect society Is teleolocigal-> Perfect society

Spencer’s Utopia ◦ Evil is eliminated ◦ People live in harmony ◦ Society based on “Spontaneous voluntaristic cooperation” ◦ Happiness for all

Sociology Replaces Religion ◦ Evolution=god ◦ Government (regulation & intervention)= devil

“The Proper Sphere of Government” Published in radical press ◦ Supported extreme restriction on scope of government

The Proper Sphere of Government Only Policing Everything else-> Private enterprise ◦ No poor laws ◦ No national education ◦ No established church ◦ No restrictions on commerce ◦ No factory legislation

Spencer’s View of the Individual Lamarkianism ◦ Acquired traits-> Inherited Emotions ◦ Dominate intellect Survival of the fittest ◦ Traits change through use & disuse

Spencer’s View of the Individual Spencer believed that society was evolving toward increasing freedom for individuals So that government intervention, ought to be minimal in social and political life

45 Spencer’s View of the Individual Basic argument of Social Statics: “Human happiness can be achieved only when individuals can satisfy their needs and desires without infringing on the rights of others to do the same.”

Spencer’s View of the Individual Gender ◦ Earlier believed gender was learned ◦ Later reversed position ◦ Women’s intellectual abilities sacrificed for reproduction ◦ Women destined by nature for domestic role

Methodology All natural phenomena explained by evolution “Social occurrences” are natural phenomena Evolution—Progressive change in: Evolution—Progressive change in: ◦ Mass (population) ◦ Density (crowding) ◦ Differentiation (dividing into parts)

Methodology Evolution ◦ Specialization ◦ Different functions ◦ Integration ◦ Parts work together ◦ Adaptation ◦ Change improves function

49 Theory Class of Theories: Organicism Society is similar to a special organism obeying its own laws of ‘progress.’ Societal Evolution

Contribution to Theory Spencer was one of the most argumentative And most discussed English thinkers of the Victorian period.

Final Ideas… Spencer claimed that knowledge was of two kinds: (1) Knowledge gained by individual (2) Knowledge gained by the race. Intuition, or knowledge learned unconsciously=the inherited knowledge of the race. Basic and final reality beyond our knowledge, which he called the Unknowable.

Spencer’s Importance to Sociology 1 1. A positivist 2. Sociology verify causation 3. Sociologists should be cultural relativists

Herbert Spencer He died in 1903 buried at Highgate Cemetery near buried at Highgate George Eliot and Karl Marx.