Herbert Spencer

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how Herbert Spencer has been described by some as an individualist and a liberalist. His work does touch on many interesting, if not controversial, subjects over the course of his career. For a time, Spencer's theories experienced great popularity. Even in his lifetime, however, Spencer's works were marginalized and he found his theories being dismissed.

From the Paper:

" According to Holmes (1994) Spencer was "a gifted amateur" (p. 1). He never received the formal education that Darwin and Huxley received; however, he learned much from his uncle, Thomas Spencer, and from experience (Holmes, 1994, p. 1). From this background, Herbert Spencer advanced several theories on biological and social evolution and various political theories. These theories include social evolution and eugenics in his own form of liberal sociology. "

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