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Herbert Spencer was born in 1820 during the period of British industrialism. One of the main reasons that Herbert Spencer was important to sociology was because of his views and ideas about evolution. Charles Darwin is always given credit for the idea of survival of the fittest, but most likely it was Spencer who coined this phrase. This phrase was almost always used to explain part of science, but in Spencer's work it took on some political meaning as well. Spencer had many very extreme political views and grew to despise government programs that were aimed to help the poor. In the end it was his harsh views on politics that held his ideas back from being accepted right away. Writings such as Principles of Sociology and others were set-aside for years. Spencer was like Darwin in some ways, but when it came down to the theory of evolution, Spencer took it one step further than Darwin by saying that it involved much more that just biology.
Herbert Spencer was born in 1820 during the period of British industrialism. One of the main reasons that Herbert Spencer was important to sociology was because of his views and ideas about evolution. Charles Darwin is always given credit for the idea of survival of the fittest, but most likely it was Spencer who coined this phrase. This phrase was almost always used to explain part of science, but in Spencer's work it took on some political meaning as well. Spencer had many very extreme political views and grew to despise government programs that were aimed to help the poor. In the end it was his harsh views on politics that held his ideas back from being accepted right away. Writings such as Principles of Sociology and others were set-aside for years. Spencer was like Darwin in some ways, but when it came down to the theory of evolution, Spencer took it one step further than Darwin by saying that it involved much more that just biology.
Herbert Spencer died in 1903. He left behind many wonderful ideas to the world of sociology, including one that states that because we are part of a society and culture we are therefore part of nature.
Copyright 2001 Jason Smith |
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