Of the four chief elements which, in various combinations, make up living bodies, three are gaseous under all ordinary conditions and the fourth is a solid. Oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen are gases which for many years defied all attempts to liquefy them, and carbon is a solid except perhaps at the extremely high temperature of the electric arc. Only by intense pressures joined with extreme refrigerations have the three gases been reduced to the liquid form. There is much significance in t...

The Best Works of Herbert SpencerEssays on Education and Kindred SubjectsJohn Stuart Mill; His Life and WorksThe Philosophy of StyleThe Right To Ignore The StateThe Data of Ethics

Herbert Spencer was an English philosopher, biologist, anthropologist, sociologist, and prominent classical liberal political theorist of the Victorian era. Spencer developed an all-embracing conception of evolution as the progressive development of the physical world, biological organisms, the human mind, and human culture and societies. As a polymath, he contributed to a wide range of subjects, including ethics, religion, anthropology, economics, political theory, philosophy, literature,...

This 3-volume book features a comprehensive collection of most significant scientific, political and speculative essays by Herbert Spencer. The first volume is made up of essays in which the idea of evolution, general or special is dominant. In the second volume essays dealing with philosophical questions, with abstract and concrete science, and with aesthetics, are brought together; but though all of them are tacitly evolutionary, their evolutionism is an incidental rather than a necessar...

Herbert Spencer's "Essays" is a profound exploration of philosophical and sociological themes that interrogate the development of human society and thought. Characterized by Spencer's distinctly analytic prose and a systematic approach to complex ideas, this collection melds his pioneering ideas on evolution, education, and ethics, situating them within the broader intellectual currents of the 19th century. Spencer's essays serve not only as a critique of existing social doctrines but also...

Nelle pagine sul diritto d'ignorare lo Stato, che il trentunenne Herbert Spencer incluse in "Social Statics", si afferma la tesi assai radicale che ogni individuo ha la facoltà di sottrarsi a imposizioni, costrizioni, tassazioni. Spencer non nega la necessità di istituzioni politiche e giuridiche, ma aggiunge che questi ordinamenti possono essere legittimi solo se nascono da un patto volontario, da un'azione che "confederi" tra loro individui desiderosi di finanziare alcuni servizi. Gli uo...

In "The Universal Postulate," Herbert Spencer presents a profound exploration of the philosophical foundations of knowledge and reality. Through a systematic analysis of logical principles, Spencer articulates his central thesis that all knowledge is rooted in a universal postulate, which encompasses fundamental truths that govern human understanding. The work is characterized by Spencer's hallmark clarity and rigor, utilizing a blend of deductive reasoning and empirical observation, placi...

The Philosophy of Style by Herbert Spencer libreka classics – These are classics of literary history, reissued and made available to a wide audience. Immerse yourself in well-known and popular titles!

The Complete Essays by Herbert Spencer (Vol. 1-3) represents a comprehensive anthology of Spencer's vast body of work, encapsulating his philosophical musings on sociology, ethics, and evolutionary theory. Written in a richly analytical style, these essays examine the interplay between culture and biology, elucidating his conviction that societal evolution mirrors natural selection. The essays are deeply entrenched in the intellectual backdrop of 19th-century thought, engaging with contemp...

The Works of Herbert SpencerEssays on Education and Kindred SubjectsJohn Stuart Mill; His Life and WorksThe Philosophy of StyleThe Right To Ignore The StateThe Data of Ethics

Spencer suchte nach einer Erklärung gesellschaftlichen Wandels beziehungsweise der Entwicklungsstufen einer Gesellschaft. Beeindruckt von den Thesen Lamarcks wandte er diese erstmals auf soziale Systeme an. Lamarck postulierte, dass die Evolution der Lebewesen aufgrund äußerer Faktoren stattfinde. In Soziale Statik beschreibt Spencer die Gesellschaft als einen „Überorganismus“ mit Organen, die den Lamarckschen Gesetzen von Wachstum und Niedergang folgen. Um 1860 begann Spencer sein Lebensw...

In a debate upon the development hypothesis, lately narrated to me by a friend, one of the disputants was described as arguing that as, in all our experience, we know no such phenomenon as transmutation of species, it is unphilosophical to assume that transmutation of species ever takes place. Had I been present I think that, passing over his assertion, which is open to criticism, I should have replied that, as in all our experience we have never known a species created, it was, by his own...