Hugh Samuel Roger Elliot

“ Defining the business of philosophy as the formulation of truths which hold good for all orders of phenomena, as distinct from those of the special sciences, which hold good only for limited departments, he founds his system upon the physical principles of the indestructibility of matter, and the continuity of motion, unified under the general heading of the Persistence of Force. ”

“ The general result is to distinguish between two main types of society, the militant resting on a basis of status, and the industrial resting on a basis of contract.
'The Principles of Ethics ' was considered by Spencer as the flower of the whole philosophy. His system is hedonistic, in so far as it regards happiness as the object to be attaint ; it is evolutionary, in so far as it represents that evolution is carrying us to a state in which happiness will far exceed what we now experience. ”

“ He concentrated the attention of mankind on the problems of fundamental importance. The main deficiency of his reasoning was a too free use of the deductive method, more especially in his biological and sociological writings, where this method is always attended by grave dangers. Huxley correctly singled out Spencer's weakness when he laughingly said that Spencer's definition of a tragedy was the spectacle of a deduction killed by a fact. ”

“ Evolution is supplemented by the reverse process of Dissolution ; and these formulas express the law of the entire cycle of changes passed through by every existence and at every instant, with no limitations of time or space. Evolution, however, tends ultimately to equilibrium, in which the incessant changes come to an end.
In 'The Principles of Biology 'Spencer applied the law of evolution to animate existence. ”

“ In 1884 appeared four articles from the 'Contemporary Review,' now bound together to form 'The Man versus The State.' Spencer had been watching with alarm the gradual encroachment of the state upon the liberty of the individual, and its ever-widening sphere of activity. The purpose of these essays was to propose a new creed for liberals — the limitation of state-functions to protection against foreign aggression and the maintenance of justice at home. ”

“ Spencer then proceeds, in his attempt at the unification of knowledge, to seek for a law of the continuous redistribution of matter and motion, as comprising every department of the 'Knowable.' He finally reaches his famous law : — Evolution is an integration of matter and concomitant dissipation of motion ”

“ The central doctrines of the philosophy were, in its social side, individualism and opposition to war ; on its scientific side, evolution and the explanation of phenomena from the materialistic standpoint. It has been said that the advancement of knowledge depends mainly on interrogating nature in the right way. Spencer may be said to have nearly always asked nature the right questions ”

“ The 'Study of Sociology' was devoted to setting forth the difficulties, objective and subjective, that confront the student of the social science. The many varieties of bias which are likely to perturb his judgment were discussed in full. The book, being of a comparatively popular character, was immensely successful ; and the preliminary publication of its chapters in the 'Contemporary Review' in England and the 'Popular Science Monthly' in America did much to assist the sale of Spencer's works. ”

“ Spencer's first business on concluding the 'Biology' was to re-cast 'First Principles,' in the first edition of which he now recognised sundry imperfections. He then turned his attention to 'The Principles of Psychology,' the next portion of the 'Philosophy.' By adding various divisions he brought his previously published work on 'Psychology' into line with the plan of the rest of the 'philosophy.' The first volume was published in 1870, and the second in 1872. ”

“ The doctrine has found scarcely more favour on the side of science than it has on the side of religion, and may be regarded as the least important part of the philosophy. Part ii. sets forth the fundamental principles of the 'Synthetic Philosophy,' as Spencer has named his system. ”

“ The child is to be trained, not by the commands and prohibitions of its parents, enforced by punishments, but by giving it the greatest possible amount of freedom, and allowing the natural consequences of wrong actions to be felt by it, without parental interference. ”

“ A movement was set on foot by Mill, Huxley, Tyndall, Busk, and Lubbock (now Lord Avebury) for obtaining subscribers for a large number of extra copies ; but the death of his father in 1866 greatly improved his position, and enabled him to continue the issues without the help of friends. Already, however, his vehement adherent Youmans had been active in America, with the result that Spencer's admirers in that continent presented him with a valuable gold watch, and invested 7000 dollars in his name in public securities, so as to deprive him of the option of refusal. ”

“ He defined life as 'the continuous adjustment of internal relations to external relations' and argued that the degree of life was proportional to the degree of correspondence between these two sets of relations. ”

“ Hitherto the serial method of publication had been adhered to, but with the conclusion of this volume Spencer sent to subscribers a notice of discontinuance, determining in future to publish the volumes as they were completed. He began the second volume of 'The Principles of Sociology,' but finding his health still very precarious abandoned it to write 'The Data of Ethics.' Any form of continuous application brought on symptoms due to cerebral congestion, and many expedients were tried to prevent them. ”

“ He acquired some knowledge of science from the literature circulated by the Derby Philosophical Society, of which his father was honorary secretary. His father did everything to encourage him in the cultivation of his natural tastes for science and observation of nature. At thirteen he was sent to Hinton Charterhouse, near Bath, to live with his uncle, Thomas Spencer [q. v.] , who was an advanced radical and a leader of various social movements, such as temperance reform. ”

“ At last the nomadic period of his life came to an end, when in 1848 he was appointed sub-editor of the 'Economist' at a salary of 100 guineas a year, with free lodgings and attendance. The 'Economist' was the property of James Wilson, M.P. (1805-60) [q. v.] ”