‘I suppose one of the basal truths in his philosophy of science is for Spencer the universality of connexion between cause and effect.’
‘Surveying his work as a whole, we may confidently assert that Spencer brought to a conclusion a great task, and was himself great in its execution.’
Herbert Spencer is one of the most influential intellectuals of the 19th century. Today, however, he is largely forgotten and is best remembered for his controversial doctrine of Social Darwinism, which was used to promote laissez-faire economics and unfettered competition during his time. But to focus on Social Darwinism when thinking of Spencer is too limiting in scope. Spencer’s works go much beyond Darwinism, and his main effort went towards trying to create an unified philosophical theory of science. Conwy Lloyd Morgan provides a meticulous summary of Spencer’s philosophy of science that introduces readers to the whole extent of Spencer’s voluminous writings.
Conwy Lloyd Morgan was a British zoologist and psychologist. He is sometimes considered to be the founder of comparative psychology.