Life introduction
Herbert Spencer 1820-1903 was born on 27 April 1820 in a middle-class family in Derby. His father George Spencer was a school teacher. The whole family was staunchly anti-traditional and with an individualistic outlook. The eldest of the nine children of his parents and was able to attain adult age alone, all the rest died at a young age, probably this was the reason that in his theory of evolution, he presented the post-survival Darwinian idea of the most appropriate.
Spencer did not receive any formal education, his father and uncle taught him at home. Biology was a classic treatise on psychology, despite having no systematic training in other subjects such as natural science, literature, history, etc.
In 1850, his first book, Social Statics was published and this book was recognized in the intelligent. In this book, he presented the main ideas of his sociological theory. Spencer was greatly influenced by Charles Darwin's book The Origin of Species (1859).
Main idea
Herbert Spencer's sociological works, eg. In Social Statics 1850, The Study of Sociology 1873, Principles of Sociology 1875-96, etc., the idea of development is predominant. Spencer believed that there has been a course of social development throughout the ages from a simple uniform or homogeneous structure to a complex, polymorphic or heterogeneous structure. According to him social process is unique, so sociology as a science should explain the present state of society by applying the laws of development at the initial stages of development. Thus evolutionary theory has a main place in his research.
Evolutionary theory
Spencer's method of knowledge was based on his belief that the basic concept of understanding the whole world and man's place in it is evolution. The concept of evolution is also based on the assumption that the various forms of nature, whether it is mountains or seas, trees or grass, fish or reptiles, birds or humans, are all transformed into the same, basic material substance.
Therefore, this basic process of the existing transformation of every element of nature is the evolutionary principle. eg..
Our body is mainly made up of water, blood, bones and flesh and each of these elements has come from nature itself. After death, these elements of a person again mix with natural substances. In this way all the processes of change are the same i.e. they arise from material substances, have their own configuration of transformation and transformation and according to their configuration they are destroyed in due course of time, which is again mixed in nature.
Biological analogues
Spencer has examined all areas of knowledge through his idea of social development. Comparing human society to an organism, Spencer refers to biological analogy. Spencer realized that there is some difference between a biological organism and a society. He said that a society is something more and different from the form of existence, society is a super biological being and an existence in itself raised above the level of the organism.
Following this establishment, Spencer refused to accept the idea that society was nothing but the collectivity of many individuals. According to them a certain hierarchy of different parts is included in the society.
Spencer was an individualist, so he believed that unlike biological organisms, where different parts exist for the benefit of the whole, in society the whole exists for the different parts, that is, society exists for the individuals.
Development of society
Spencer wanted to create two classification systems regarding social development.
According to the first system, in the process of social development, society is active in the direction of different levels of society from simple to complex, depending on the category of its composition. According to Spencer, complex societies arise from the set of some simple societies. According to Spencer, there are families in ordinary societies, in composite societies there are clans made up of families, in other complex societies there are tribal groups made up of clans and in triple complex societies, as in our society, tribal groups are made up of There are nations and states.
The second system is based on the structure of forms, which do not actually exist but can be helpful in analyzing and comparing different societies.
war society
War-loving society A society in which organizations are mainly organized for aggressive and protective military action.
The main characteristics of this type of society are...
- In these the relations between the members are on the basis of co-operation.
- Highly centralized configuration of power and social control.
- The abundance of myths and beliefs that reinforce the hierarchy nature of the society.
- There is a hard life with strict discipline and a close harmony between public and private life.
industrial society
Military activities and organization in an industrial society are external to the society. In industrial society, the focus is on human production and welfare.
The main characteristics of this type of society are...
- Voluntary cooperation takes precedence.
- Individual rights of the people are strongly considered.
- The economic sector is kept essential by the political control of the government.
- Open societies and institutions develop.
Spencer knew that no society needed to fit perfectly into either of these two systems, the various classified societies only serve the purpose of models in classification.
The Influence of Spencer's Ideas on Contemporary Sociology
Spencer wanted to show people through sociology that human beings should not interfere in the spontaneous process going on in the society.
Spencer was a firm believer in the innate instinct of freedom and believed that any interference with this natural condition would be harmful.
Influenced by Darwin, Spencer believed in the concept of survival of the all-perfect. Like Darwin, he also said that nature has the power to weaken and destroy the commission. The fittest person is the one who is healthy and intelligent. For them the state is like a jointly registered company which protects the mutual interests of individuals.
According to Spencer, nature is more powerful than man, so the government should stop interfering in this process of development. He forbade the government to do activities like education, sanitation, improvement of ports.
Thus for them the policy of laissez-faire of the Victorian era i.e. free market society in which there is no interference of the government and individuals are free to compete with each other was the best of all societies.
His ideas became popular because they were according to the then conditions. His thoughts were able to explain scientifically the desire to unify knowledge and laissez-faire. The principle of laissez faire was popularized by economists like Adam Smith and Ricardo.
This theory supported the notion of a free market in which prices were determined on the basis of the forces of demand and supply. Perfect competition could have been possible in such a market. This theory became popular during the eighteenth-nineteenth century because economists and social thinkers believed that this was the best way to increase the wealth of the nation.
Both Compt. and Spencer were successful in elevating sociology to the status of the science of society.
