Herbert Spencer
1820–1903 · British · Victorian Era
Known for: Coined 'survival of the fittest' (not Darwin), applied evolution to everything, and wore earplugs to boring conversations
Autodidactic, systematic, and enormously influential. The most famous philosopher in the Victorian world, outselling everyone in the 1870s.
He applied evolution to society, morality, and psychology. His social Darwinism was later used to justify inequality, though his views were more nuanced.
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