Herbert Spencer: The Heir of Darwin’s Theory

Born in Derby, England on April 27, 1820, Herbert Spencer was raised in a non-conformist family in the Victorian era. His father was a school teacher who was active in the diocese. However, Spencer was encouraged by his family to be able to think freely. Spencer’s closeness to his uncle influenced his childhood education, which he received more from his uncle than his father. Little Spencer was attracted to the world of butterflies and insects. Biology became an interest in the early studies he was studying. In addition, Spencer was also known to be talented in mathematics and physics.

From his youth, until the 1840s, Spencer worked in the railroad industry as a draftsman and technical assistant on the railroad tracks connecting London to Birmingham. While working in the industry, Spencer became acquainted with the work of Lyell, a geologist who wrote about the evolutionary process of Earth’s history. After reading Lyell’s work, Spencer began to find an interest in the intellectual world. Herbert Spencer looked for a new job to channel his new interests, until finally he met a company that could accommodate his intellectual interests. Spencer works as a sub-editor at The Economist. In 1853, Spencer acquired the legacy of his late uncle. The momentum gave Spencer complete freedom in the intellectual world.

Also read:  Max Weber: Modern Social Science “Architect”

During his time in the world of thought, Herbert Spencer wrote extensively on philosophy and politics. Spencer’s first work was a critique of the utilitarian philosophy of John Stuart Mill and William Whewell. Auguste Comte was the founder of the positive school philosophy which influenced Spencer ‘s thinking. Comte’s ideas about the stages of human consciousness inspired Spencer’s theory of evolution. Spencer also paid great attention to the process of scientific development provoked by Comte. However, Spencer did not stop at the philosophy introduced by Comte. Spencer developed his own philosophical synthesis which would later become known as the “philosophy of evolution”. Spencer developed general principles of science, then derived their equations in biology, psychology, sociology, and ethics. Herbert Spencer incorporated the idea of ​​evolution in these various disciplines. which made him the first to use the term “evolution” in social science.

For Spencer, all phenomena in this life are one unit. Mountains, water, animals, thoughts, people, all have a difference which comes from the same material element. Spencer identified the materials that make up everything into three categories: inorganic, organic and super-organic. According to Spencer, physics and chemistry study everything that is dead or inanimate. These conditions fall into the inorganic category. Meanwhile, biology and psychology study something related to life, so it is called organic. Finally, super-organic is the realm of sociology. Spencer argued that sociology intersects something beyond the organic. Sociology studies super-organic phenomena,

Read also Emile Durkheim: Originator of Modern Sociology Herbert Spencer’s most popular statement is ” Survival of the Fittest “, where the strongest survive. In its development, Spencer’s theory of evolution in social science has been compared with Darwin’s evolution in natural sciences. Comte’s positive philosophy that natural science methods could be applied to social science influenced the claims of equality between Spencer and Darwin. Spencer is called the “Darwin of Social Sciences” and the perspective of Spencer’s theory of evolution has another name, namely “Social Darwinism”. Although Spencer studied Darwin a lot, his ideas about evolution in the social sciences were actually heavily influenced by Comte.

Despite writing extensively throughout his life, Spencer’s intellectual achievements came after his death. Spencer died on December 8, 1903 in Brighton, England. Research assistants who had several pieces of Spencer’s corpus began to collect them. The result was a thick work published in stages in several volumes entitled “The Principles of Sociology”. The summary of Spencer’s work, which was deemed too thick, was immediately summarized, then published under the title “The Study of Sociology”.

 

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