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'''Herbert Spencer''' (April 27, 1820 – December 8, 1903) was an [[English]] [[philosopher]] and prominent [[liberal]] [[political theorist]]. He was a defender of [[Charles Darwin]]'s theory of [[evolution]], and coined the terms "the [[Survival of the fittest]]"<ref>''fit'' - meaning suitable, or the right size and shape, '''not''' ''fit'' as in athletically strong (although some have inferred this interpretation).</ref> and "the Descent of Man." Although raised in a devout Methodist family, Spencer never joined a church. He, like many scientists of the time, was a [[deist]], which is to say he did not believe in [[God]] ''per se'', but only in ''a'' god. Eventually, Spencer  became an [[agnostic]].

'''Herbert Spencer''' (April 27, 1820 – December 8, 1903) was a highly influential [[English]] [[philosopher]] and [[political theorist]]. He had an encyclopedic range, writing on topics of government, ethics, education, economics, sociology, biology, psychology and anthropology. He originated some of the ideas of evolution picked up by [[Charles Darwin]].  Spencer's main theme was that powerful forces of social evolution were systematically making mankind better and better. In politics he was a 19th century liberal--similar to modern libertarians--who opposed to government intervention of any sort and provided the arguments that conservatives still use to oppose socialist and liberal proposals.

Spencer is largely remembered today for his theories of [[social Darwinism]], the idea that Darwinist evolutionary ideas applied to societies as well as people. Social Darwinism reached its political [[zenith]] in the [[Nazi]] regime of [[Adolf Hitler]], and is mostly discredited today.

Spencer was born into a poor but well-educated family. He was home-schooled by his father and his uncle Thomas Spencer, an evangelical clergyman who had been educated at Cambridge University. Starting at age 17 he spent four years as a civil engineer building railways, and the highly systematic engineering mode of analysis characterized his intellectual approaches. He never married.

Herbert Spencer died of poor health in 1903. He asked to be buried in the [[Highgate Cemetery]] of [[London]] so that he would be facing the grave of the [[atheist]] [[Karl Marx]], the well-known founder of the [[Communist]] movement. A fair number of people travel each year to pay their respects to Marx and Spencer.

Although raised in a devout Methodist family, he never joined a church. He was a defender of [[Charles Darwin]]'s theory of [[evolution]], and coined the terms "the [[Survival of the fittest]]"<ref>''fit'' - meaning suitable, or the right size and shape, '''not''' ''fit'' as in athletically strong (although some have inferred this interpretation).</ref> and "the Descent of Man." Spencer, like many scientists of the time, was a [[deist]], which is to say he did not believe in [[God]] ''per se'', but only in ''a'' god. Eventually, Spencer became an [[agnostic]].

==Notes==

==Influence==

<references/>

 

 

 

* Weinstein, David.  *[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/spencer/ Herbert Spencer] in ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy''

===Primary sources===

===Primary sources===

* [http://oll.libertyfund.org/Home3/Author.php?recordID=0236 Most of Spencer's books are available online]

* [http://oll.libertyfund.org/Home3/Author.php?recordID=0236 Most of Spencer's books are available online]

* Spencer, Herbert. ''Education: Intellectual, Moral, and Physical'' (1891) 283pp [http://books.google.com/books?id=gztMAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:herbert+inauthor:spencer&lr=&num=30&as_brr=3 full text online]

* Spencer, Herbert. ''Education: Intellectual, Moral, and Physical'' (1891) 283pp [http://books.google.com/books?id=gztMAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:herbert+inauthor:spencer&lr=&num=30&as_brr=3 full text online]

* Spencer, Herbert. ''An Autobiography'' (1905, 2 vol) [http://books.google.com/books?id=gUozqCwTGkEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:herbert+inauthor:spencer&lr=&num=30&as_brr=3 full text online]

* Spencer, Herbert. ''An Autobiography'' (1905, 2 vol) [http://books.google.com/books?id=gUozqCwTGkEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:herbert+inauthor:spencer&lr=&num=30&as_brr=3 full text online]

* [http://books.google.com/books?as_q=&num=30&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_brr=3&lr=&as_vt=&as_auth=herbert+spencer&as_pub=&as_sub=&as_drrb=c&as_miny=&as_maxy=&as_isbn= online writings of Spencer]

* [http://books.google.com/books?as_q=&num=30&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_brr=3&lr=&as_vt=&as_auth=herbert+spencer&as_pub=&as_sub=&as_drrb=c&as_miny=&as_maxy=&as_isbn= online writings of Spencer]

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