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Herbert Spencer
(1820-1903)
The Principles of Psychology, Part IV, Chapter ix, par. 219. Rudolf
Steiner consulted the German edition, translated by Dr. B. Vetter
and published at Stuttgart, 1882. Spencer, born 1820, an engineer by
training, sought to explain "the phenomena of life, mind and society
in terms of matter, motion and force." At first strongly influenced
by Coleridge, Spencer placed evolution as the first and most universal
principle, influencing all the sciences. To him, evolution was
synonymous with progress. In his later development, Spencer championed
rugged individualism, and became an outspoken opponent of socialism,
upholding what he considered the absolute rights of private enterprise
against any form of governmental control. Before his death in 1903,
Spencer's optimistic view of human progress collapsed, and he fell prey
to marked pessimism regarding the future of mankind.
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