Herbert spencer

SOC4044 Sociological
Theory:

Herbert Spencer
Sunday, October 21, 2012 ©1999-2006 by Ronald Keith Bolender 1

Herbert Spencer
References
Coser, Lewis A. 1977. Masters of Sociological Thought: Ideas in Historical and Social Context . 2d ed. New York:
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers.
Keb, Julia Ann. 1999. “Herbert Spencer: Social Darwinism in Education.” Retrieved October 6, 1999
(http://www.nd.edu/~rbarger/www7/spencer.html).
Mooney, Linda A., David Knox, and Caroline Schacht. 1997. Understanding Social Problems. New York: West
Publishing Company.
Peel, J. D. Y. 1974. “Spencer and the Neo-evolutionists.“ Pp. 188-209 in Theories and Paradigms in Contemporary
Sociology. Edited by R. Serge Denisfoff, Orel Callahan, and Mark H. Levine. Itasca, IL: F. E. Peacock Publishers,
Incorporated.
Perdue, William D. 1986. Sociological Theory: Explanation, Paradigm, and Ideology . Palo Alto, CA: Mayfield
Publishing Company.
Spencer, Herbert. [1850] 1888. Social Statics: or, the Condition Essential to Human Happiness Specified and the First
of Them Developed. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
Spencer, Herbert. [1873] 1961. The Study of Sociology. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
Spencer, Herbert. 1897. The Principles of Sociology, Part VIII .
Toffler, Alvin. 1980. The Third Wave. New York: Bantam Books.
Turner, Jonathan H. 1998. The Structure of Sociological Theory . 6th ed. Cincinnati, OH: Wadsworth Publishing
Company.
Turner, Jonathan H., Leonard Beeghley, and Charles H. Powers. 1998. The Emergence of Sociology Theory. 4th ed.
Cincinnati, OH: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Wang, Bee Lan C. 1985. “Population and Hunger.” Pp. 284-295 in Social Problems: Christian Perspectives. Edited by
Charles P. DeSanto and Margaret M. Poloma. Winston-Salem, NC: Hunter Textbooks, Incorporated.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
©1999-2006 by Ronald Keith2Bolender

Herbert Spencer

1820 - 1903

Sunday, October 21, 2012 ©1999-2006 by Ronald Keith Bolender 3

Herbert Spencer
Born April 27, 1820 in Derby, England
Located in the heart of British industry
Oldest of nine children, the only to survive
Religious/political/philosophical
background
Nonconformist Dissenters
Partial Quaker in thinking
Supported laissez-faire economics
(Coser 1977:102-103; Perdue 1986:56)

Herbert Spencer
Taught at home by his father and later his
uncle
Education--heavy in science--very light in
Latin, Greek, English, and History
By age 16 he had a good background in
mathematics and the natural sciences
Never would become a generally
educated individual

Herbert Spencer
In 1837 (at the age of 17) he became an
engineer at London and Birmingham
Railroad
Later he worked as a draftsman for the
Birmingham Railway
Discharged in 1841---he returned home to
Derby


Herbert Spencer
Next few years published several articles
in the radical press
“The Proper Sphere of Government”
Argued for an extreme restriction of the scope of
government
• The whole field of human activity (except for policing)
should be left to private enterprise
• There are no poor laws, no national education, no
established church, no restrictions on commerce, and no
factory legislation


Herbert Spencer
In 1850, he finished his first book, Social Statics
Based on the theme in “The Proper Sphere of
Government”
• Creed of laissez faire
His work was in disagreement with Comte in the
area of “intervention.” Comte visualized that a
“social priest” (with governmental powers) would
fine tune society so that society would run as
smoothly as possible.
• Similar to the role of the chairperson of the Federal
Reserve (in the United States) in fine tuning the
economy via changing interest rates.

Herbert Spencer
The basic argument of Social Statics can be
stated as follows:
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.
(Turner, Beeghley, and Powers 1998:45-46)


Herbert Spencer
Each member of the race. . .must not only
be endowed with faculties enabling him to
receive the highest enjoyment in the act of
living, but must be so constituted that he
may obtain full satisfaction for every
desire, without diminishing the power of
others to obtain like satisfaction: nay, to
fulfill the purpose perfectly, must derive
pleasure from seeing pleasure in others.
(Spencer [1850] 1888:448)
©1999-2006 by Ronald Keith10
Bolender

Herbert Spencer
“The Developmental Hypothesis”
1852, seven years prior to Darwin’s Origin of
Species
Expounded and advocated a theory of
evolution

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Herbert Spencer
In 1853 he received a sizable inheritance
from his uncle’s estate
From then on he lived the life of a private
scholar
A lifelong bachelor living frugally in
various lodgings and rooming houses in
London

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Herbert Spencer
Around 1854, Spencer suffered from a
nervous illness--at times unable to
concentrate, write, or even to read
Attempted to overcome acute insomnia with
heavy doses of opium
He eventually retreated from society, became
a semi-hermit

Bolender

Herbert Spencer
Principles of Biology (several volumes 1864-
1867)
Textbook used at Oxford
The Study of Sociology (1873)
Textbook used at Yale University
William Graham Sumner taught Spencerism at Yale
Principles of Psychology (two volumes 1870-
1872)
Textbook used at Harvard University

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Herbert Spencer
Throughout his life Spencer refused nearly
all honors offered him by universities, the
government, or scientific bodies. He had
no official position and no university
degree. Yet during the last quarter of the
century he enjoyed an international
reputation and influence almost
comparable to that of Charles Darwin.
(Coser 1977:107)

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Herbert Spencer
Paradigm: Order
Class of Theories: Organicism
Societal Evolution
Social Darwinism (Turner 1998:80)
“Society is akin to a special organism obeying
its own laws of ‘progress.’”
Platonic Theme
The natural order of all societies is one of
hierarchy.
(Perdue 1986:47)
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Herbert Spencer
Almost a decade before Darwin
published On the Origin of Species ,
Spencer coined the phrase
“survival of the fittest.”
Spencer’s Social Statics [1850]
Spencer had used the phrase
earlier when writing articles for
newspapers.
(Turner 1998:80, 85)
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Herbert Spencer
“. . .Spencer had made the connection
between biology and sociology.”
(Turner 1998:80)

This is a profound statement. A large
segment of sociological thought is closely
aligned with biology--especially in
ecological themes.
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Herbert Spencer
Comte had allied sociology with biology,
arguing that in the hierarchy of the
sciences, sociology would emerge from
biology and become the “queen science.”

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Herbert Spencer
But Spencer did more than make superficial
analogies between biological and social
bodies, he proclaimed that sociology was
to be the study of superorganic
organisms--that is, relations among living
organisms--and he included more than
human organisms in this definitions.
(Turner 1998:80)

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Herbert Spencer
Survival Similarities in Social and
Biological Systems
Production of life-sustaining substances
Reproduction of system parts
Regulation and control of actions by
system parts
Distribution of information and materials
among system units
(Turner 1998:80)
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Herbert Spencer
The sociological concept of progress was
elevated by Spencer. The evolution of
society involves increasing complexity of
social structure and associate culture
symbols, and this complexity increases
the capacity of the human species to
adapt and survive in its environment.
(Turner 1998:81)

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Herbert Spencer
Evolution, that is, “a change from a state of
relatively indefinite, incoherent,
homogeneity to at state of relatively
definite, coherent, heterogeneity,” was to
Spencer that universal process, which
explains “. . .those latest changes which
we trace in society and the products of
social life.”
(Coser 1977:89)

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Herbert Spencer
Spencer argued, that the evolution of
human societies, far from being different
from other evolutionary phenomena, is but
a special case of a universally applicable
natural law. Sociology can become a
science only when it is based on the idea
of belief in a social order not conforming
to natural law, survives.”
(Coser 1977:90)

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Herbert Spencer
Spencer’s most fruitful use of organic
analogies was his notion that with
evolutionary growth come changes in
any units structure and functions, that
increases in size bring in their wake
increases in differentiation.
(Coser 1977:90)

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Herbert Spencer

Evolution--
Unilinear
or
Multilinear ?

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Herbert Spencer
The earlier Spencer indicated a unilinear
model of evolution--a straightforward
progressive march.
The mature Spencer indicated that
“regression” was possible (influenced by
what he saw in England toward the end of
the 19th century).
(Coser 1977:96-97)

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Herbert Spencer
Social progress is not linear but divergent
and re-divergent. . . (Spencer 1897:725)

It was always Spencer’s view that the true
symbol of development was not a chain,
but a tree. (Peel 1974:198)

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Herbert Spencer

Wave Theory
Illustrated by Toffler in The Third Wave
(Toffler 1980)

Toffler is really a conflict theorist, but one can see traces of
“evolutionary” ideas within his work.

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Herbert Spencer
Survival of the Fittest
War and complex societies
Interventions into lesser societies
(Turner 1998:81)

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Herbert Spencer

Refer to
Herbert Spencer Handout

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Herbert Spencer


Bolender

Herbert Spencer
War, has an interesting impact upon
society. It is one of the few social
phenomena that “individualistic” members
of a modern society are willing to
“sacrifice” self-centerness for the “good”
of society as a whole. After all, war is the
ultimate social problem.
(Per Dr. Bolender 1999)

Bolender

Herbert Spencer
The period of World War II was the
closest that the United States was to
having a socialist-type government.
Individualism was sacrificed for the “good”
of the “community.”
(Per Dr. Bolender 1999)

Bolender

Herbert Spencer
At least for a period of time, members of
society are willing to allow “major” efficient
changes to be made “overnight.” Also,
there are “residual” affects after the war,
for example, the GI Bill.

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Herbert Spencer

Bolender

Herbert Spencer
The Contrast Between Militant and
Industrial Societies

(see handout)

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Herbert Spencer
Structural-functionalism focuses on
the functions war serves and
suggests that war would not exist
unless it had positive outcomes
for society . . .War has created a
world of larger political units. . .
from 600,000 around 1,000 BC to
less than 200 today.
(Mooney, Knox, and Schacht 1997:465-466, 469-470)

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Herbert Spencer

Through centuries of warfare,
the state (as a large political
unit) was created. . . This
led to greater stability which
led to profound positive
social and cultural changes.

Bolender

Herbert Spencer
Industrialization and technology
could not have developed in the
small social groups that existed
before military action consolidated
them into larger states. Thus, war
contributed indirectly to the
industrialization and technological
sophistication that characterized
the modern world.
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Herbert Spencer
As societies become more
industrialized, their proneness to
warfare decreases. . .
Preindustrial nations
Overall mean of 10.6 wars per decade
Industrial nations
Overall mean of 2.7 wars per decade

Bolender

Herbert Spencer
Positive Benefits of War
Creates solidarity
Gives society a common cause to rally around
Increases employment and stimulates the
economy
Inspires scientific and technological
developments that are useful to civilians
Microwave oven
Internet
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Herbert Spencer
Serves to encourage social reform
GI Bill
VA
Health care
Housing

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Herbert Spencer:
Nonintervention

Nonintervention
and the
Survival of the Fittest
(Coser 1977:99-101)

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Herbert Spencer:
Nonintervention

Spencer, the same as Darwin,
drew the concept of survival of
the fittest from the works of
Thomas Robert Malthus. The
role of “ intervention ” is a
major/serious philosophical
issue in the concept of “pure
evolution and nonintervention .”
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Herbert Spencer:
Nonintervention

Classical Malthusianism
Thomas Robert Malthus
English economist
Essay on the Principle of Population
First published in 1798 AD
(Wang 1985:285-286)

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Herbert Spencer:
Nonintervention

Basic principles of the Malthus’ Theory
Food is essential for the existence of man
“Passion between the sexes” will continue to
exist and to result in population growth
Population grows “geometrically” whereas at
best food increases only “arithmetically”

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Herbert Spencer:
Nonintervention

Positive checks
Famines
Disease
Wars
Given the human propensities to procreate
faster than food can be produced, most of
mankind is poor most of the time

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Herbert Spencer:
Nonintervention
Preventive checks (moral restraints)
Delayed marriages
Reduced frequency of sex relations within
marriage
No premarital or extramarital sex relations
Malthus did not think that the effect of
“moral restraint” would be significant.
Further, he did not approve of the practice
of contraception.
Bolender

Herbert Spencer:
Nonintervention
The classical Malthusian theory of population
implies that an increase in the food supply or
income would result in either fewer people
dying, or in more marrying earlier and having
more children. In either case both would result
in increased population growth, thereby
nullifying the effects of the additional food or
income. Thus, Malthus looked with disfavor on
welfare programs in England during his day
and, if he were living today, he would probably
think it equally unwise to send food to starving
people overseas.
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Herbert Spencer:
Nonintervention

Spencer’s own theory of
population was slightly
more optimistic than
Malthus.
(Coser 1977:100-101)

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Herbert Spencer:
Nonintervention

Spencer argued that an excess in fertility
stimulates greater activity because the
more people there are, the more ingenuity
is required to stay alive. The least
intelligent groups and individuals die off;
hence, the general level of intelligence is
bound to rise gradually.

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Herbert Spencer:
Nonintervention
Except. . . .
The intervention of government in social affairs, Spencer
argued, must distort the necessary adaptation of society
to its environment. Once government intervenes, the
beneficial process that would naturally lead to man’s
more efficient and more intelligent control over nature
will be distorted and give rise to a reverse process that
can only lead to the progressive deterioration of the
human race.
(Based on Social Statics Spencer 1892:151--special edition of Social Statics).
(Coser 1977:100-101)

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Herbert Spencer:
Nonintervention

This is applicable to organization behavior
at the micro level.

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Herbert Spencer:
Nonintervention

Christian response to
the “ intervention ”
versus
“ nonintervention ”
question/issue.
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Herbert spencer

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