College of Education

School of Continuing and Distance Education 2014/2015 – 2016/2017

SOCI 301/321

Foundations of Social Thought

Session 3 –The Founders of Sociology: Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)

Lecturer: Dr. Dan-Bright S. Dzorgbo, UG Contact Information: ddzorgbo@ug.edu.gh

godsonug.wordpress.com/blog

Session Overview

Slide 2 Dr. Dan-Bright S. Dzorgbo, Sociology Dept. UG

Introduction

This session is sequel to the preceding one that dealt with Auguste Comte. It deals with the works and ideas of Herbert Spencer.

Goals and Objectives

By the end of this session you should be able to:

• Give a brief biographical background of Herbert Spencer

• Identify and understand the various concepts and ideas associated with

Spencer

• DeterŵiŶe SpeŶĐer’s ĐoŶtriďutioŶ to soĐiology

Session Outline

Slide 3 Dr. Dan-Bright S. Dzorgbo, Sociology Dept. UG

The key topics to be covered in the session are as follows:

• Topic One: Biography of Spencer

• Topic Two : Major ideas, concepts and views of Spencer

• TopiĐ Three: SpeŶĐer ’s ĐoŶtriďutioŶ to soĐiology

Reading List

Slide 4 Dr. Dan-Bright S. Dzorgbo, Sociology Dept. UG

• ALLAN K. (2005) EXPLORATIONS IN CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY: SEEING THE SOCIAL WORLD, LONDON: PIN FORGE PRESS

• ASHLEY D. AND D. M. ORENSTEIN (2001) SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY: THE

CLASSICAL STATEMENTS, BOSTON: ALLYN AND BACON.

• DZORGBO, D-B. S. (2013) SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY: CLASSICAL IDEAS AND THEIR

APPLICATION IN THE AFRICAN CONTEXT, ACCRA: WOELI PUBLISHING SERVICES

• DZORGBO D-B. S. (2009) SOCIOLOGY: FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIAL THOUGHT:

LEGON-ACCRA: CENTER FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF GHANA.

• RITZER G. (20O8) SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY, BOSTON: MCGRAW HILL

• RITZER G. & DOUGLAS J. GOODMAN, (2004) CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGICAL

THEORY, BOSTON: MCGRAW HILL

Topic Two: Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)

• Herbert Spencer was born in Derby, England on April 12, 1820

• He schooled in technical and utilitarian

matters not in humanities and arts. • He worked as a civil engineer for a railway

company from 1837 to 1846

• During this time, Spencer studied on his own

and published scientific and political works. In 1848, Spencer was appointed the editor of The Economist and this job enabled him to build his intellectual capacity

• By 1850, he had completed his major work,

Social Statics. But Spencer experienced intermittent insomnia and a series of nervous breakdown in the process of writing this book, a problem that afflicted him throughout his life

Slide 5 Dr. Dan-Bright S. Dzorgbo

Topic Two: Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)

• In 1853 Spencer inherited a family fortune that permitted him to live a gentleman scholarly life.

• Although Spencer never earned a university degree or occupied academic position, his scholarly productivity increased to the extent that it was impossible to be a scholar in England at the time without being familiar with SpeŶĐer ’s ǁ ork. SpeŶĐer ǁ as a great thinker.

• Like Comte before him, Spencer did not read the works of others, meaning he also practiced Đereďral hygieŶe.

Slide 6 Dr. Dan-Bright S. Dzorgbo

Herbert Spencer: Major Ideas

Slide 7 Dr. Dan-Bright S. Dzorgbo, Sociology Dept. UG

• Spencer like Comte was evolutionist. He believed that just as a living organism grows and develops, so is the evolution of society. Society evolves from a small relatively simple and homogenous state in which division of labour is little to more a complex and heterogeneous state in which the division of labour is advanced.

• He believed that society (i) evolves from one stage to the other from headless society to headed, compound, doubly compound, triply compound (modern societies)

• and (ii) also from militant and to industrial where there would be

peace. • Societal evolution entails competition coined the terŵ surǀ i ǀ al of

the fittest — heŶĐe SoĐial Darǁ i Ŷisŵ

• Competition in human affairs results in social progress and human perfection

Herbert Spencer: Major Ideas (ĐŶt’d)

Slide 8 Dr. Dan-Bright S. Dzorgbo, Sociology Dept. UG

• Society is like living organism, it has parts (e.g. religion, the family, education, the state, and the economy) that are interrelated and interdependent and all function to maintain the society as an ongoing entity.

• This image of society is in line with a modern theoretical

perspective in sociology known as structural functionalism.

• An advocate of non-intervention in society by governments or

states because competition and social inequality are necessary for the progress of society.

Herbert Spencer: Society as Living

Organism • He conceived society as a living

organism. For example, the human organism has parts such as the heart, lung, mouth, stomach, legs, etc. that are interdependent and all play their roles to ensure the survival of the human being.

• Like the above, society also has parts (the social institutions) that are interdependent and function to ensure survival of society—

• If the human being is a biological system, then society is a social system

Slide 9 Dr. Dan-Bright S. Dzorgbo

Society as System of Institutions

• society

FAMILY

Religion

Health

Polity

Education

Slide 10 Dr. Dan-Bright S. Dzorgbo

Society as System of Institutions

;ĐoŶt’dͿ

Slide 11 Dr. Dan-Bright S. Dzorgbo, Sociology Dept. UG

• The parts of the living organism are interrelated, interdependent and are all functioning to sustain the

living organism

• The parts of society are the social institutions—the

family, politics, the economy, religion, education, health; they are also interdependent and functional (make contribution) to existence of the overall society.

Herďert SpeŶĐer ;ĐoŶt’dͿ: Evolution, Competition and Progress

• Social evolution entails competition and results in progress

• Spencer applied Darwin's theory of Evolution and the idea of

surǀ i ǀ al of the fittest thereďy iŵproǀiŶg soĐiety

• Societies evolve from simple homogeneous state to complex

heterogeneous state

• From Headless society, to headed, to compound, doubly compound and triply compound society

• From militant society (militant) to industrial society (peaceful)

• The natural and unguided evolution of society leads to the most fit surviving and the poor and the unfit being eliminated

Slide 12 Dr. Dan-Bright S. Dzorgbo

Conclusion

Slide 13 Dr. Dan-Bright S. Dzorgbo

• In this section you have learnt aďout Herďert SpeŶĐer ’s ;BritishͿ ďiography • His contribution to sociology in terms of the ideas he developed for our

understanding of the nature of society and its future direction • Spencer like Comte shared evolutionary ideas about society, although his

eǀ olutioŶary ideas differed froŵ that of Coŵte’s laǁ of three stages

• Spencer shared a commitment to a science of society

• However, whereas Comte wanted social reforms through sociology,

Spencer did not want reform through sociology but wanted social life to evolve freely not guided by any external force or governmental control