{pdf} Education: Intellectual, Moral, and Physical Herbert Spencer

Herbert Spencer’s influence in the 19th century cannot be exaggerated & is perhaps quite convincingly demonstrated by the fact that over a million copies of his work were sold during his lifetime. Yet the currents of thought which predominated after his death were somewhat incompatible with his views, which consequently went out of fashion. Nevertheless it would be hard to present a coherent argument in favor of dismissing his thought completely, even today. His work in sociology, politics, as well as philosophy made an important contribution to the development of these disciplines. At least one of the phrases he coined, “survival of the fittest,” which is often wrongly attributed to Darwin (due to the latter’s use of it in later editions of “The Origin of Species”) remains very much part of our vocabulary today, both inside & outside academia. This volume is one of Spencer’s lesser known works, tho certainly important for our understanding of his perspectives in a number of areas, most importantly education. The edition is useful to enthusiasts, who’ve not been able to purchase a new copy of this work for some time. The four chapters of which this work consists originally appeared as four Review-articles: the 1st in the “Westminster Review” for 7/1859; the 2nd in the “North British Review” for 5/1854; & the remaining two in the “British Quarterly Review” for 4/1858 & 4/1859.