The most famous philosopher of the square-toed age , Herbert Spencer , coined the term “ survival of the fit ” , tried to enforce the concepts of evolution to human order , and was draw by Charles Darwin himself as “ twenty time my superior . ” He was also a shameless hypochondriac , a sadistic prankster , and like to coiffe in a one - slice suit that made him look like a bear .
On The Origins Of Herbert Spencer
Herbert Spencer was born on April 27 , 1820 in Derby , England , the boy of William George Spencer , a religious dissenter with a love of learning and an anti - authoritarian stripe . The old Spencer inculcate these values in his son Herbert , teaching him the rudiments of scientific empiricism while his friends in the Derby Philosophical Society – an organization establish by Charles Darwin ’s grandpa Erasmus , and of which George Spencer was secretary – gave the untried Spencer lessons in biology , particularly the proto - evolutionary estimation of Jean - Baptiste Lamarck and Erasmus Darwin .
Beyond some math and Latin lesson from his uncle , the Reverend Thomas Spencer , the rest of Herbert ’s education was completely self - taught . Herbert Spencer had a remarkable power to extract all possible information from a select text , carefully piece out indication that would expand his understanding of a given topic . He also gained as much information as he could from those he spoke with , folding the knowledge of all those he met into his own chop-chop growing reason .
Spencer bounced around a few job , find success as a youthful serviceman writing and edit various radical journals advocating for free craft . His ideas were a intermixture of cutting edge economic theory and proto - Darwinian notions of evolution , which together he used to chart the time to come of man . In 1851 , he published Social Statics , which trip the light fantastic around the concept of “ survival of the fittest of the fittest ” that he would coin fifteen year later . turn over this enactment , which melds social possibility with notions of Lamarckian evolution :
“ It is clear that any being whose constitution is to be moulded into fittingness for new conditions of existence must be locate under those conditions . Or , putting the suggestion specifically – it is clear that man can become adapted to the societal DoS , only by being retain in the societal state … Only by the process of adaptation itself can be produced that quality which make social equilibrium unwritten . ”
Man Of The Salon
As Spencer gained so much of his knowledge from those he conversed with , it was enormously crucial for Spencer to plunk the proper ally . On this breaker point , he was helped by Social Statics publisher John Chapman , who brought him into contact with an intellectual beauty parlour full of the United Kingdom ’s most radical thinkers . fundamental interaction with these men and women cement his political doctrine , a libertarian system of rules that believed the natural progression of humanity would make all government wither aside . To this end , Spencer at times advocated for universal suffrage for women and tike , and he argued for the nationalization of land to diminish the office of the aristocracy .
The salon ’s ranks let in the utilitarian philosopher John Stuart Mill , literary critics and spiritual skeptic George Henry Lewes , pioneer sociologist Harriet Martineau , and writer Mary Ann Evans , well cognize as pseudonymous Silas Marner author George Eliot . Spencer became in particular near to Lewes and Evans , and Evans even once proposed married couple to him , although Spencer turn out to be just one of several adult male who did not reciprocate her more romantic feelings .
Lewes and Evans aid take Spencer ’s thinking to the next storey , and the result was 1855 ’s principle of Psychology , in which Spencer argued the workings of the human mind were basically knowable through program of natural laws . This pronouncement venture out a place in extreme opposition to that of religious orthodoxy , which maintained sure component of the world – the human consciousness chief among them – were inherently beyond the apprehension of science . This made Spencer ’s book unpopular with the establishment , and it failed to reach much critical or public support . Still , Spencer was just getting warmed up .
The Other Father Of Evolution
As early as 1852 – seven old age before Charles Darwin went public with his evolutionary theories in On the Origin of Species – Herbert Spencer sketched out the basic principle of evolution and lifelike option . His basic idea was that human development was by nature progressive and everywhere increasing . This affirmative aspect led him to what he termed “ evolution ” , arguably stool him the veridical vulgarizer of this terminus , not Darwin . The key differentiation is that Spencer could not set ahead an actual theoretical framework for this evolutionary cognitive process , which Darwin was able-bodied to do with his notions of natural choice .
Spencer ’s philosophy became tremendously pop , offer the growing intellectual family a ready - made second-stringer to schematic organized religion . His system of rules suggested everything from biological evolution to the law of thermodynamics could be used to foretell the future of humanity and , more specifically , the future ne plus ultra of humanness . The cosmos existed to promote human felicity , as far as Spencer was concerned , and the Torah of nature were universal in their reach .
But let ’s focalise on Spencer ’s take on evolution , because it could take year to untangle his entire argument . It ’s of import to keep in mind that Spencer was not simply taking Darwin ’s idea and give them to society as a whole . It ’s an understandable mistake – indeed , what other assumption is possible when Spencer is generally accredit as the inventor of something called “ Social Darwinism ” ?
In existent fact , Spencer was more comfortable with Lamarck ’s early notions of win characteristics , which check that how particular organs or trait are used during a person ’s lifetime can affect their physical physical composition and then be passed down to their small fry . Darwin ’s idea of a directionless evolution , in which there was no endpoint but simply version to changing environmental niche as governed by natural selection , was not an easy fit for Spencer ’s earlier ideas , and it was only with some reluctance that he integrate these ideas into his work .
Survival Of The Fittest
Spencer ’s most famous approximation is encapsulated by “ selection of the fittest ” , although it ’s often mistakenly assign to Charles Darwin . Spencer get up with this iconic bout of phrase in his 1864 record book Principles of Biology , in which he save :
“ This survival of the fittest , which I have here sought to state in mechanical term , is that which Mr. Darwin has called ‘ raw selection ’ , or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life . ”
Darwin would then apply the idiomatic expression himself in the fifth edition of On the Origin of Species , although his use was only metaphorical , and not intended as a scientific description . Indeed , the term does n’t really catch the evolutionary procedure , as it ’s not just the fittest that survive to reproduce – it ’s all organisms that are fit enough to not die untried , which has led later biologists to indicate “ natural selection of the fit enough ” is the more exact condition .
Besides , Spencer ’s use of the idiom might have been redundant , a mere tautology . He seemed to use “ fittest ” as “ best - equipped to survive ” , which makes the phrase “ survival of the easily - equipped to survive ” a bit useless . Still , though his ideas proved a clumsy scene for the actual science of evolution , they charm – and still beguile – the public imagination , and they prove to be much better fits for Spencer ’s primary concern , which was an organic evolution - base theory of society .
A Word About Social Darwinism
In general , Spencer ’s positivistic reputation is as the coiner of “ survival of fit ” and as the popularizer of Darwin . His damaging repute comes from his attempts to we d these ideas to social club at gravid . Social Darwinism – the term generally go for to Spencer ’s sociological endeavour – is often thought of as apologism for the wealthy , as it says those who are successful in fellowship are those best - adapted to it , meaning the inadequate are less fit to survive in society .
It ’s an perceivable misconception , and other philosophers have boost idea more along those lines , but that was n’t really what Spencer was driving at . The main focus of his social evolution was focused on the state itself , which he essentially believed acquire first to give high society structure , and then withered off as the member of that society were sufficiently develop to do without it . ( This is , like most paragraph - long summaries of a life ’s body of work , something of an oversimplification . But it will do for our determination . )
As we antecedently mentioned , his writings proved staggeringly pop , and he became the most noted philosopher of the Victorian Age . He became an international inspiration for rotatory group looking for an innovative system that could supercede their failed commonwealth , and his ideas were influential in various movements as far aside as Poland , China , and Japan . No less than Charles Darwin called him “ twenty times my superior ” , and wrote these glowing words :
“ Every one with eye to see and ears to get word ( the issue , I fear , are not many ) ought to crouch their knee to you , and I for one do . ”
Spencer was often compared favorably to Aristotle , and there ’s a decent debate that he was , in his own time , the most illustrious philosopher ever . But as interesting as Spencer ’s ideas were , the serviceman behind those ideas was often far more fascinating . Let ’s now consider just who Spencer really was … because he was a strange human indeed .
The Hypochondriac And The Hammock
Herbert Spencer was never in particular good for you , and his constant cerebral exertion took its bell on his frail physique . Of of course , no one was more keenly aware of this than Spencer himself , who spent the final decade of his biography an incorrigible hypochondriac , forever complaining of various unwellness that no Doctor of the Church could ever name . Chief among thesewas “ the rascality ” , an odd maven he sometimes feel inside his headland .
surprisingly , Spencer was by far the strong member of his family – tragically , he was the only one of William George Spencer ’s nine children that even reached adulthood . He was known to be a inveterate insomniac , which kept him in a land of perpetual enfeeblement that circumscribe his ability to work to just a few minute a day , and he suffered a series of nervous dislocation . These bouts did n’t do wonders for his societal skills , as he often took to fag out earplugs whenever he mat over - excite … peculiarly if he was on the sceptre of misplace an disceptation .
Traveling was a special ordeal for Spencer , and he was invariably win over that any private instructor drive would spell his end of the world . Indeed , he would often call for the coachman pull over so that Spencer could check his pulse , just to be absolutely sure he was still alive . The fact that the coachman had answer to him at all should have been proof enough , really , but Spencer was nothing if not thoroughgoing .
wagon train ride were n’t much good . Spencer kept two men on constant retainer to help him whenever he got on a train . One of the assistants was in charge of his traveling mound , which would be do up in his compartment and Spencer would scramble in , where he continue for the distance of the stay . The rest of the work dwell of moving all his luggage , which let in several rugs and air cushions meant to increase the comfort of the tripper .
But the strangest part had to be how Spencer was dress . He had designed a rather ridiculous - seem one - patch , overall - similar costume , and this became his favored affair to jade . It was designed to reduce the heavy attempt it took to outwear all that exuberant Victorian attire , as Spencer now had no motive to put on boots , socks , pants , shirt , or a coat . There was a trade - off though – Spencer looked like a big chocolate-brown bear whenever he wore his overall . On second thought , maybe that was n’t really a trade - off .
Is It Water On The Brain?
Still , Spencer was n’t so possessed with his wellness that he could n’t enjoy himself . He could have a wicked sensation of humour , as a fellow academic named Trimbell discover . Hydrocephalus , well known as water on the brain , was one of the most fear conditions of the Victorian populace , and it would n’t be until the 20th century that aesculapian scientific discipline came up with in force treatment for the disease .
Hydrocephalus happens when an unusually high amount of cerebrospinal fluid accumulates in the cavities of the genius . Although it mostly affects a modest percentage of newborn , it is possible for grownup to acquire the experimental condition well . The experimental condition is known to be highly painful for any adult who shrink it , and the damage it does to the head can seriously affect thought and behavior .
So yes , that ’s the term Spencer determine to convert his co-worker Trimbell that he had . After outlining these symptoms and point out a tumefy promontory was the first sign of hydrocephalus , Spencer started to surreptitiously add strips of paper inside his friend ’s chapeau . Every day Spencer sum up another diminutive airstrip of newspaper , each clock time make the distance inside the hat a little little and a fiddling tighter for Trimbell ’s head .
Spencer was playing a long biz here – it took weeks for Trimbell to take in that his headland was “ growing ” , but once he realize he was most distressed at how fast his water on the brain was progressing . If there was any jurist in the world , Spencer ’s longstanding hypochondria should have been the outcome of pitiable souls like Trimbell exacting their retaliation , fool around him with a set of equally fraudulent maladies that would be impossible for Doctor of the Church to find . Maybe they can cast that in when Hollywood makes the Herbert Spencer biopic .
Spencer’s End
As Spencer ’s wellness deteriorate , so too did his optimism in humanity . Spencer , once a superstar of political ideals that fell somewhere between liberalism , libertarianism , and unlimited anarchy now drifted rightward towards reactionary conservatism . Spencer had always champion the reformist character of man , the whimsy that human mind and societies were always better so that , eventually , no government would be needed . But , as his acquaintance die off and he became progressively isolated and lonely – Spencer was a womb-to-tomb bachelor – he became disillusioned with this aspect .
In a sense , the philosophic underpinnings of Spencer ’s politics had n’t really alter . He had been distrustful and doubting of government his full life , but what had once been a more nonobjective critical review became increasingly focused on the policies of Prime Minister William Gladstone , the Grand Old Man of the Liberal Party . Spencer ’s once radical eyeshot mistake away one by one – he now opposed suffrage for women , and he now sought to protect the rights of traditional property owner against what he control as the rising tide of socialist economy .
On one point , Spencer ’s old anti - conservatism rest , but it made him staggeringly unpopular . Spencer remained stanchly anti - military and anti - imperialism , and his final days were spent piercingly critiquing the Boer War . His once near universal influence was already on the wane , and a public that had once seen Spencer as the philosopher now dismissed him as a bitter old crank .
Survival Of The Fittest Reborn
Spencer die in 1903 . He was cremated , with his ashes interred in London ’s Highgate Cemetary . In an rum coincidence , his gravestone face that of Karl Marx . It seems appropriate that , even in expiry , Spencer would be provided with someone with whom he could have a fierce philosophic contention .
The backlash against Spencer , which had already begun before his death , get to its solar apex in the early 20th hundred . The most popular philosopher of the straightlaced Age was now usher out as a clueless buffoon whose works were little more than an unwilled takeoff of actual philosophy .
In his 1944 Christian Bible Social Darwinism in American Thought , historian Richard Hofstadter did what is known in academic rotary as ripping him a raw one , blast Spencer as “ the metaphysician of the homemade intellectual , and the prophet of the cracker - bbl agnostic . ” Even more damagingly , it was Hofstadter who popularized the notion of Social Darwinism . It ’s an estimation that , yes , is an of import aspect of Spencer ’s body of work , but it ’s just one part of a full-bodied , complex philosophic doctrine that often gets sweep aside in modern discussion .
The last few decades have been far kinder to Spencer , and he ’s enjoyed a cocksure philosophical review . Although his personal fame has long since been eclipsed by Charles Darwin , his ideas are arguably still better eff than those of the forefather of biological phylogenesis . After all , ask a random person on the street what ’s the first thing they recall when you cite “ organic evolution . ” ( Note – please do n’t in reality do this . They might be busy . ) Some will say “ natural selection ” , yes , but just as many will say “ survival of the fit . ” Even if most people do n’t cognise the real context of that phrase , it lives on in our ethnical mental lexicon .
And Now, At Last, The Paper Clip
There ’s one other far-famed story about Herbert Spencer that we have n’t yet touched – that he invented the newspaper publisher snip . This is more or less an urban caption . The first paper clip is generally credit to the American discoverer Samuel Fay , who heave the dead set wire paper clip in 1867 . His was one of about fifty newspaper snip designs patent before 1900 , although none of them are actually all that like to what we use today .
But where does Spencer insert into all this ? He did mention in his autobiography that he had invented what he called a “ binding pin ” , which at the time was distributed by the business firm Ackermann & Company . An appendix to his autobiography include a drawing of the fall , and it does n’t really look much like what we now conceive a theme clipping . It does attend like cotter pins , sometimes known as an roentgen - time . you’re able to see one above .
Of naturally , it is a dead workable design , and Spencer ’s apparent invention ( there ’s technically no cogent evidence for his claims outside his autobiography ) is one of the early known examples of a cotter pin . And besides , it was intend to hold together sheet of theme , so if we ’re being technical about this , it could sure enough be considered a composition clip , even if it does n’t really fit the more accurate definition of the term .
So now , if someone ever strain to move you by mentioning that the “ natural selection of the fittest ” guy wire invented the paper clip , you could kindly correct them and tell them the real story of Herbert Spencer . Personally , I ’d advise starting with his bear - seem one - piece .
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