1st Edition

Herbert Spencer: Collected Writings

By Herbert Spencer Copyright 1996

    Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) was regarded by the Victorians as the foremost philosopher of the age, the prophet of evolution at a time when the idea had gripped the popular imagination. Until recently Spencer's posthumous reputation rested almost excusively on his social and political thought, which has itself frequently been subject to serious misrepresentation. But historians of ideas now recognise that an acquaintance with Spencer's thought is essential for the proper understanding of many aspects of Victorian intellectual life, and the present selection is designed to answer this need. It provides a cross-section of Spencer's works from his more popular and approachable essays to a number of the volumes of the Synthetic Philosophy itself. Volume I: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Herbert Spencer.

    Volume I: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Herbert Spencer. I.-HERBERT SPENCER: A BIOGRAPHICAL SXETCH II.-SPENCER'S EA.RLIER WORK-PREPARATION FOR THE SYNTHETIC PHILOSOPHY III.-THE SYNTHETIC PHILOSOPHY IV.-THE SPENCERIAN SOCIOLOGY V.-THE ETHICAL SYSTE~[ OF SPENCER VI.-RELIGIOUS ASPECTS OF THE SPENCERIAN PHILOSOPHY APPENDlX.-CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF MR. SPENCER'S WRITINGS

    Biography

    Herbert Spencer