Herbert Spencer, Social Darwinism, Personal Thoughts

A Biography of Herbert Spencer, His Contributions to Sociology, and How my Personal Thoughts Were Awakened Jessica McCreary CCBC Dundalk Abstract This paper discussed the life of Herbert Spencer (Spencer) and his contributions to the field of Sociology found from print (textbook) and non-print sources (online). Each article touched base on Spencer’s life, but each described it differently. Over all, the article discussed how Spencer was homeschooled and raised by his father and uncle (Delaney, 2003) and how he was the founder of social Darwinism and how he â€Å"coined the term ‘survival of the fittest,’† (Ferris, K., Stein, J., 2014, p. 21). Spencer’s major books that he has written are in this paper as well. This paper also discusses how my own personal thoughts were awakened by his theoretical concept of social Darwinism. Keywords: Spencer, social Darwinism, personal thoughts A Biography of Herbert Spencer, His Contributions to Sociology, and How my Personal Thoughts Were Awakened Many people have suggested that Charles Darwin coined the term â€Å"survival of the fittest,† but it was actually coined by Spencer as he referred to the changes in a society (Ferris, K., Stein, J., 2014, p. 21). All of Spencer’s ideas and theories on social Darwinism were thought of even before Charles Darwin began exploring the idea of evolution (Wee, A., 2013). To understand how the idea of social Darwinism came about, the life of Spencer should be researched. This paperShow MoreRelatedCharles Darwin, The Most Influential Nineteenth Century Evolutionary Thinker1176 Words   |  5 Pagessummarizes his theory of evolution with the thought of struggle for survival, or natural selection. 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