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Social Statics

by Herbert SPENCER (1820 - 1903)

Part 2, Chapter 10, The Right of Property

Social Statics, or The Conditions essential to Happiness specified, and the First of them Developed is an 1851 book by the British polymath Herbert Spencer. In it, he uses the term "fitness" in applying his ideas of Lamarckian evolution to society, saying for example that "It is clear that any being whose constitution is to be moulded into fitness for new conditions of existence must be placed under those conditions. Or, putting the proposition specifically — it is clear that man can become adapted to the social state, only by being retained in the social state. This granted, it follows that as man has been, and is still, deficient in those feelings which, by dictating just conduct, prevent the perpetual antagonism of individuals and their consequent disunion, some artificial agency is required by which their union may be maintained. Only by the process of adaptation itself can be produced that character which makes social equilibrium spontaneous." Despite its commonly being attributed to this book, it was not until his Principles of Biology of 1864 that Spencer coined the phrase "survival of the fittest", which he would later apply to economics and biology. This was a key tenet of so-called Social Darwinism. Economist Murray Rothbard called Social Statics "the greatest single work of libertarian political philosophy ever written. (Wikipedia)

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Listen next episodes of Social Statics:
Part 2, Chapter 16, The Rights of Women, Part 2 , Part 2, Chapter 17, The Rights of Children, Part 2 , Part 3, Chapter 20, The Constitution of the State, Part 2 , Part 3, Chapter 21, The Duty of the State, Part 2 , Part 3, Chapter 22, The Limit of State-Duty, Part 2 , Part 3, Chapter 26, National Education, Part 2 , Part 3, Chapter 28, Sanitary Supervision, Part 2 , Part 4, Chapter 30, General Considerations, Part 2 , Part 4, Chapter 30, General Considerations, Part 3 , Part 2, Chapter 11, The Right of Property in Idea, Chapter 12, The Right of Property in Character , Part 2, Chapter 13, The Right of Exchange, Chapter 14, The Right of Free Speech, Chapter 15, Further Rights , Part 2, Chapter 16, The Rights of Women, Part 1 , Part 2, Chapter 17, The Rights of Children, Part 1 , Part 3, Chapter 18, Political Rights , Part 3, Chapter 19, The Right to Ignore the State , Part 3, Chapter 20, The Constitution of the State, Part 1 , Part 3, Chapter 21, The Duty of the State, Part 1 , Part 3, Chapter 22, The Limit of State-Duty, Part 1 , Part 3, Chapter 23, The Regulation of Commerce , Part 3, Chapter 24, Religious Establishments , Part 3, Chapter 25, Poor-Laws , Part 3, Chapter 26, National Education, Part 1 , Part 3, Chapter 27, Government Colonization , Part 3, Chapter 28, Sanitary Supervision, Part 1 , Part 3, Chapter 29, Currency, Postal Arrangements , Part 4, Chapter 30, General Considerations, Part 1 , Part 4, Chapter 31, Summary , Part 4, Chapter 32, Conclusion