Herbert Spencer and Social Theory

Herbert Spencer's name is recalled today for his expression 'survival of the fittest', but the range and originality of his ideas on evolution and the nature of social and individual life are not generally familiar. His many essays and his ten-volume System of Synthetic Philosophy furnished cutting-edge thought for the second half of the nineteenth century. This book argues that he still deserves a place at the table reserved for leaders in nineteenth-century science and science and politic...