Philosophy of Evolution

Abstract

Herbert Spencer (1820–1903) — unlike Darwin, Huxley, Wallace, and Romanes — was not a scientist. Thou gh he wrote Synthetic Philosophy (1855–1893, in 10 volumes), one of the epic multi-volume treatises on philosophy in the Victorian period — the epic if length is taken into account — he was not trained as a philosopher either.¹ He was in fact an engineer by formation and a publicist by trade, living from the proceeds of his writings. He became one of the most important of the Victorian philosophers of evolution and his work commanded attention and interest in America as well as in England.² Today Spencer is best remembered as one of the founders of sociology and a defender of Social Darwinism, though it will be argued that this latter charge is ill-founded. Overrated as a philosopher during the latter part of the 19th century, Spencer’s reputation has declined precipitously with the 20th, and is arguably as underestimated today as it was over-estimated in his own time.