Herbert Spencer

Born in Derby, England, in 1820, Herbert Spencer was a self-taught writer and thinker whose work ranged across philosophy, psychology, biology, sociology, and anthropology. He became one of the best-known intellectuals of the 19th century by arguing that evolutionary development could help explain both the natural world and human society.

Spencer published influential books including Social Statics, The Principles of Psychology, and the large multivolume project later known as Synthetic Philosophy. He coined the phrase "survival of the fittest" after reading Darwin, though his own evolutionary ideas were broader than biology alone. His writing strongly favored individual liberty, limited government, and the growing authority of science.

His reputation has shifted over time. Spencer was once enormously popular, then later criticized for views linked to social Darwinism, but he remains an important figure in the history of sociology, liberal political thought, and Victorian intellectual life.