How societies are born, grow and die is something that has been studied for centuries, although often this knowledge has not been systematized until the emergence of the first sociologists.
Sociology is a science that, despite its great importance in understanding the functioning and structure of the societies in which we live, has a relatively recent history. In fact, technically it is considered that its appearance was due to authors such as Auguste Comte or the author to whom this article is dedicated, Herbert Spencer.
Spencer was a well-known philosopher of liberal tendencies who is especially known for the integration into the study of societies of some of the main contributions of the theory of evolution, configuring what could now be called social Darwinism. In this article we will see what are the characteristics of Spencer’s theory in relation to his way of explaining the functioning of society.
Although Herbert Spencer’s theory was considered controversial in the Victorian era in which he lived, it had an important impact on the social fabric of the time and on the study of societies from a scientific perspective.
Below we present some of the main contributions or basic ideas defended by Herbert Spencer’s theory, on various aspects of reality, but fundamentally focused on society
Synthetic philosophy
Herbert Spencer’s philosophical work is extensive, and subscribes to a positivist conception of science (in fact he is one of its main promoters and founders).
In it, the author considers that all scientific concepts were limited because they were based solely on the subject’s experience, so his knowledge was based on false premises. To be scientific, it is necessary that a hypothesis or proposition can be verified and falsified experimentally.
He considered it necessary and in fact attempted to synthesize (hence the name of his philosophy) and unify scientific knowledge around the laws of nature the main and most fundamental being the law of evolution.
Organic theory of society
One of the main theories defended by Herbert Spencer and which, although secondary (and later rejected by the same author in later works) is useful to better understand his thought, is that of organic analogy.
This theory proposes that Society has a structure and functioning analogous and identical to that of a living being and in fact initially the author himself goes so far as to indicate that a society is an organism in itself.
In this sense we find that, like any animal or living being, societies are born, grow, reproduce and die, in addition to increasing their complexity and becoming increasingly more complex. Likewise, they are organized based on a structure that will become more complex depending on the level of evolution of the organism, and they will have different systems in charge of different functions.
Also They require some type of management device , which would be the nervous system in animals and governments in societies. There is also a distributive system (circulatory system and/or media), and a basic maintenance system (food and industry respectively).
Now, the fact that there is a clear similarity does not mean that societies and living beings are identical: the living being seeks the benefit of the totality of its being and it is the only one who has conscience and decision about its actions, while society is partial and not always unitary and each of its members tends to seek their own benefit, not that of the whole.
It also indicates the existence of two types of societies, the military and the industrialized, as a reflection of an evolutionary process in which one moves from the first to the second as the complexity of the system increases.
What is evolution? Spencer’s theory of evolution
Another of Spencer’s contributions that establishes the beginning of his connection with evolutionary ideas is found in his theory of evolution, which establishes the existence of regulatory mechanisms in populations that allow them to be variable, evolve and differentiate.
In this theory, the author considers in the Law of Progress that we can consider progress that process of differentiation, independent of voluntary control, that directs evolution.
Based on the conceptions of physics of the time, the author reaches the conclusion that Evolution is a continuous process that requires movement and which is defined as “change from incoherent homogeneity to coherent homogeneity, accompanying the dissipation of movement and integration of matter.”
Probably the best known and most important aspect of Herbert Spencer’s theory is the so-called social Darwinism, in which integrates the main contributions of Darwin and Lamarck to the study of human populations and its operation.
This concept is established as an attempt to naturalize the social, which is by extension a product of the evolution of species and adjusts to their same rules and norms. In fact, his theory implements the theory of evolution in a large part of the disciplines and areas that exist in society.
One of the most controversial aspects of its theory, social Darwinism establishes an analogy between societies and organisms based on the law of survival of the fittest the law of natural selection.
If we apply this principle to the birth, evolution and death of societies, we find that for the author the most capable societies must prevail over those that are less capable in order to maintain their continued progress. This principle also applies to social classes: the richest are more fit than the poorest, so they have a higher survival rate
In this sense, the theory was used to justify the dominance of some peoples over others and the rise of racist attitudes or even war and imperialism, when it is understood that the survival of the fittest allows society to be maintained and evolved.
Individualism
Another of the best-known aspects of Herbert Spencer’s theory is his defense of individualism and liberalism. The philosopher and sociologist considers it necessary to limit the power of rulers and enhance the individual and autonomous development of each member of society.
The author considered that societies should be governed according to the laws of nature, with minimal intervention by the Administration in the lives of individuals being preferable, including aspects such as education. He considered that progress arose from the adaptation by free citizens to a fluid and changing society.
Now, so does Spencer. enunciated what would come to be called the doctrine of freedom according to which individual freedom ends where that of others begins.
Another aspect worked on by Spencer is the so-called psychology of adaptation. Again based on the idea of evolution, the author establishes the possibility of understand the human mind by analyzing the way it has developed based on the way in which the nervous system and the brain have been formed and evolved.
In this sense, Spencer was influenced by the trend of phrenology, considering that it was possible to establish the existence of certain characteristics from the shape of our nervous system and skull.
Herbert Spencer considered that the psyche developed based on a process through which The different ideas and thoughts were connected to each other until they were able to reflect what is happening in the environment
The author establishes in this sense that our brain acts mainly based on association, as well as that interpersonal or interspecies differences are found only in terms of the number of associations. It would therefore be a precursor to the study of psychology in which ideas similar to behaviorist ones can be observed.
Education
In Spencer’s theory, his position regarding the educational field is also known, greatly influenced by his political position and his way of seeing society.
Spencer considered that The way the classrooms were organized, a homogeneous set of minds was formed and thoughts that hinder progress and development, which arise from the encounter of different ways of thinking.
The author considered that perhaps formal education was unnecessary as long as society evolves according to the laws, a product of the need to go from uncivilized to civilized, and that it needs to constantly evolve in order to cope with social changes.
In addition, considered that science should replace many other elements of the school curriculum , including languages. In his eyes, the education and training provided at the time lagged behind social changes, and incorporated little useful knowledge. However, he did observe that little by little changes were taking place that increasingly brought the educational process closer to natural development.
