Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Herbert Spencer
Table of Contents
Quotes References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Images
Herbert Spencer survival of the fittest
For Students
Herbert Spencer summary
Quizzes
Agathon (centre) greeting guests in Plato's Symposium, oil on canvas by Anselm Feuerbach, 1869; in the Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe, Germany.
Philosophy 101
Related Questions
Read Next
Aristotle (384-322 BC), Ancient Greek philosopher and scientist. One of the most influential philosophers in the history of Western thought, Aristotle established the foundations for the modern scientific method of enquiry. Statue
Philosophers to Know, Part I
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), German philosopher. Print published in London, 1812. Profile portrait surrounded by Ouroboros ancient Egyptian-Greek symbolic serpent with tail in mouth devouring itself representing unity of material and spiritual in eternal...
Philosophers to Know, Part II
John Locke (1632-1704) English philosopher, regarded as the father of British empiricism author of Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690). His political philosophy exerted considerable influence on the American revolution and French revolution.
The Social Contract and Philosophy
Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson speaks in Concord, New Hampshire, on August 25, 2016.
Libertarianism
Discover
Four year old boy with grandfather and father lighting Hanukkah menorah. Photo taken on: December 21st, 2009
Which Is Correct: Hanukkah or Chanukah?
A mug shot taken by the regional Colombia control agency in Medellin
Pablo Escobar: 8 Interesting Facts About the King of Cocaine
Colorful winter sunset
What's the Difference Between a Solstice and an Equinox?
The Jeff Koons tulips sculputure outside the Guggenheim Museums in Bilbao, Spain, Basque Country.
What’s the Difference Between Modern and Contemporary Art?
Facsimile of one of William Henry Ireland's forgeries, a primitive self-portrait of William Shakespeare(tinted engraving). Published for Samuel Ireland, Norfolk Street, Strand, December 1, 1795. (W.H. Ireland, forgery)
The Time a Law Clerk Successfully Forged a New Shakespeare Play to Impress His Dad
Ice Sledge Hockey, Hockey Canada Cup, USA (left) vs Canada, 2009. UBC Thunderbird Arena, Vancouver, BC, competition site for Olympic ice hockey and Paralympic ice sledge hockey. Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Vancouver Olympics
10 Best Hockey Players of All Time
Hemp (Cannabis sativa).
9 Mind-Altering Plants

Herbert Spencer: References & Edit History

Additional Reading

Mark Francis, Herbert Spencer and the Invention of Modern Life (2007); Tim S. Gray, Herbert Spencer’s Political Philosophy: Individualism and Organicism (1996); John Offer, Herbert Spencer and Social Theory (2010); J.D.Y. Peel, Herbert Spencer: The Evolution of a Sociologist (1971); Michael Taylor, Men Versus the State: Herbert Spencer and Late Victorian Individualism (1992); David Wiltshire, The Social and Political Thought of Herbert Spencer (1978).

Major Works

Philosophy and religion

The Nature and Reality of Religion: A Controversy Between Frederic Harrison and Herbert Spencer (1885) and Spencer’s Synthetic Philosophy series, comprising The Principles of Psychology (1855), First Principles (1862), The Principles of Biology, 2 vol. (1864–67), The Principles of Sociology, 3 vol. (1876–96), and The Principles of Ethics, 2 vol. (1892–93).

Politics and social science

The Proper Sphere of Government (1843), Social Statics (1851), Education: Intellectual, Moral, and Physical (1861), The Study of Sociology (1872), The Man Versus the State (1884), and Facts and Comments (1902).

Other works

Essays: Scientific, Political, and Speculative, 3 vol. (1891) and An Autobiography (1904), an intellectual rather than a personal autobiography.

Article Contributors

Primary Contributors

Other Contributors

  • Marc Songini
  • SUSAN TOTH

Other Encyclopedia Britannica Contributors

Article History

Type Description Contributor Date
Modified link of Web site: National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Herbert Spencer's Contributions to Behavior Analysis: A Retrospective Review of Principles of Psychology. Dec 05, 2024
Anniversary information added. Dec 04, 2024
Add new Web site: Philosophy Now - Forgotten Philosophers: Herbert Spencer. Oct 11, 2024
Add new Web site: Saylor.org - Herbert Spencer. Aug 21, 2024
Anniversary information added. Apr 23, 2024
First paragraph modernization. Apr 10, 2024
Add new Web site: Online Library of Liberty - Herbert Spencer. Apr 05, 2024
Add new Web site: Social Sci LibreTexts - Spencer and Social Darwinism. Jan 25, 2024
Add new Web site: National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Herbert Spencer's Contributions to Behavior Analysis: A Retrospective Review of Principles of Psychology. Nov 03, 2023
Add new Web site: PBS - American Experience - Biography of Herbert Spencer. Jul 28, 2023
Add new Web site: Humanist Heritage - Herbert Spencer (1820-1903). Jun 03, 2023
Add new Web site: Frontiers - Herbert Spencer, Sociological Theory, and the Professions. Apr 21, 2023
Add new Web site: Libertarianism.org - Spontaneous Progress: A Biography of Herbert Spencer. Jan 26, 2023
Cross-references to various articles added. Jan 13, 2021
Corrected display issue. Sep 13, 2019
Top Questions updated. Aug 14, 2019
Add new Web site: Unesco - International Bureau of Education - Biography of Herbert Spencer. Aug 01, 2016
In the second reference to Descriptive Sociology, corrected a typo in the title. Jan 27, 2016
Added mention of Spencer's views on education. Oct 01, 2015
Major works section revised. May 12, 2015
Bibliography revised and updated. May 12, 2015
Article revised and updated. Apr 20, 2015
Added photograph. Nov 26, 2014
Add new Web site: The University of Alabama - Department of Religious Studies - Biography of Herbert Spencer. Aug 19, 2013
Added new Web site: Public Broadcasting Service - American Experience - Biography of Herbert Spencer. Dec 26, 2008
Added new Web site: The Victorian Web - Biography of Herbert Spencer. Dec 26, 2008
Added new Web site: Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Biography of Herbert Spencer. Sep 17, 2008
Added new Web site: Minnesota State University - Biography of Herbert Spencer.
  • Gaurav Shukla
 Apr 26, 2007
Added new Web site: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Biography of Herbert Spencer. Jun 27, 2006
Article added to new online database. Jul 20, 1998
View Changes:
Article History
Revised:
By: