Herbert Spencer

Thomson, J. Arthur (John Arthur), 1861-1933Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 480K words
Chapters: 49

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Herbert Spencer by J. Arthur ThomsonAuthor: Thomson, J. Arthur (John Arthur), 1861-1933,Language: English, Class: B: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion, Release Date: Feb 28, 2012

Editor's review

This book is a biographical and critical study of the philosopher Herbert Spencer by the British biologist J. Arthur Thomson, and is one of the early works to systematically survey Spencer's life and thought. Because the author himself had a background in biology, he grasps with considerable aptness Spencer's synthetic philosophical system, which pivots on evolutionary theory; the book recounts both his upbringing and his writing career and assesses his views in fields such as sociology, ethics, and education. For readers who wish to understand nineteenth-century British intellectual history and how evolutionary theory expanded from biology into social theory, this book offers an entry point from the perspective of a contemporary. Its style tends toward the critical biography, interweaving narrative and commentary; it is suitable as supplementary material for the study of Spencer or as background reading in intellectual history, rather than as a strict modern academic monograph.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in nineteenth-century British philosophy and intellectual history
Those studying the history of evolutionary theory's diffusion who wish to understand the contours of Spencer's thought
Students and researchers seeking background material on Spencer's life and works

Not a good fit for

Beginners hoping to read Spencer's own works or a systematic introduction to his philosophy
Readers concerned only with contemporary sociological theory and indifferent to historical context

Reading tips

Read a chronology of Spencer's life or an encyclopedia entry first, then move on to the critical sections of this book
Jot down the Spencer works mentioned in the book as you read, for later comparison with the originals
Treat the book as background material in intellectual history and read it alongside works such as Spencer's The Study of Sociology

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book one of Spencer's original works?

No. This is a biographical and critical work about Herbert Spencer written by J. Arthur Thomson, introducing and commenting on his life and thought rather than a philosophical work by Spencer himself; readers should take care to distinguish the author's views from Spencer's original meaning.

Is this book suitable for academic citation?

The book was written long ago and is an early critical biography; it can serve as a reference for understanding the history of Spencer's reception, but on specific points one should check Spencer's original works and modern scholarship, and it should not be relied on alone as the sole academic basis.

What background knowledge is needed to read this book?

It is best to have a preliminary understanding of nineteenth-century British intellectual history and the basic outlines of evolutionary theory, and to know how Spencer relates to Social Darwinism and synthetic philosophy; this makes the book's commentary and its historical context easier to understand.

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About the author

Thomson, J. Arthur (John Arthur), 1861-1933 Author · Scottish · 1861–1933

J. Arthur Thomson (John Arthur Thomson, 1861–1933) was a Scottish naturalist and biologist. Public information about him is limited, and details of his life are sparse, but his surviving works show that he wrote for general readers and devoted himself to spreading knowledge of evolution and natural history. Two of his works are held here: The Outline of Science, Vol. 1, which surveys the basic landscape of the sciences in an accessible style, and Herbert Spencer, a study of the thought of the English philosopher and sociologist. His popular science writing is orderly and readable, turning specialist material into narrative that the public can readily follow, and it had a certain influence on the popularization of science in the early twentieth century.