SOC4044 Sociological
Theory:
Herbert Spencer
Friday, March 11,
2016
©1999-2006 by Ronald Keith
Bolender
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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:Keith
Hunter Textbooks, Incorporated.
Friday,
March
11,
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by Ronald
2016
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Herbert Spencer
1820 - 1903
Friday, March 11,
2016
©1999-2006 by Ronald Keith
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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)
Friday, March 11,
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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)
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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.
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(Spencer
[1850]
1888:448)
©1999-2006
by Ronald
Keith
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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
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Herbert Spencer
 Principles of Biology (several volumes 18641867)
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 18701872)
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.
Friday, March 11,
2016
©1999-2006
Ronald Keith
(Perdue by
1986:47)
Bolender
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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
(Turner, Beeghley, and Powers 1998:58-61)
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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)
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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)
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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
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(Turner, Beeghley,
and Powers 1998:62-64)
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Herbert Spencer
(Turner, Beeghley, and Powers 1998:64-68)
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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.
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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
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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.
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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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