282 Chapter 11
“protecthim” againstinfringement.^78 UnlikeHofstadter,EdisongaveSpenceran accu-
rate reading.
Alsoappreciativeof Spenceris the acclaimedNewYorkUniversityhistorianWill
Durant(1885–1981),co-authorwithhis wifeAriel(1898–1981)of the bookseriesThe Story
of Civilization, for whichthe couplewona PulitzerPrize.From 1926 to 1961,Mr. Durant
maintainedthatSpencer“summedup his age as no manhadeversummedup any age
sinceDante;and he accomplishedso masterlya coordinationof so vastan areaof knowl-
edgethatcriticism” of him“is almostshamedintosilenceby his achievement.We are
standingnowon heightswhichhis strugglesand laborswonfor us; we seemto be above
him becausehe raisedus on his shoulders.” ThenMr. Durant,twentieth-centurymanthat
he was,predicted,“Someday,whenthe stingof oppositionis forgotten,we shalldo him
betterjustice.”^79 Thatpredictionwasnot to manifestitselfin Durant’s ownlifetime;I
hopethat it finallycomestruein the twenty-firstcentury.
Among the few prominent citizens whocontinued voicingsupport for Spencer
throughoutthe mid-twentiethcenturywasHenryHazlitt,whomwe quotedinThe Free-
domof PeacefulActionaboutthe peacefulsectorversusthe violentsector.As I writethis,
hardlyanyoneknowsof him,but Hazlittwasfamousin the early1900sfor his economics
columnsin theNewYorkTimes. PresidentRonaldReaganheldhis workin highesteem.^80
Hazlittis too familiarwiththe left-wingcliché that,in Hazlitt’s paraphrasing,the Indus-
trialRevolutionand InventivePeriodwererespectively“picturedas periodswhenno one
‘cared,’... wheneverybodywhodid not succeedin the cutthroatcompetition... was
allowedto starve.” As for Spencer’s “politicalviews,” they“are regardedby mostpresent
day writers,whobotherto mentionhim at all, as ‘extremelaissezfaire’ and hence‘discred-
ited.’” Nonetheless,an active-minded,unprejudiced“personwhotakesthe trouble... to
reador rereadThe ManVersusthe Statewill probablybe startledby two things.” The first
is the remarkableforesightwherebySpencerpredicted“whatthe futureencroachments
of the Statewerelikelyto be on individualliberty,aboveall in the economicrealm.The
secondis the extentto whichtheseencroachmentshad alreadyoccurredin 1884,the year
in whichhe was writing.”^81 Hazlittwas gratefulfor Sumneras well.^82
A bit of justicefromethologistsarrivesby wayof RobertL. Carneiroof the American
Museumof NaturalHistory.He discloses,“The fact is thatHerbertSpencerwasa tower-
ing figurewhocouldrightlybe calledthe father,or co-father,ofbothsociologyand
anthropology”^83 (emphasisadded).AlthoughAugusteComtecoinedthe expressionsoci-
ologyin 1839,^84 it wasSpencerwhotirelesslyworkedfor decadesto bringscientificrigor
to sociology.Followingthe firststepstakenby ComteandJohnStuartMill,Spencer
venturedpastthemin establishingthe fieldthatis socialscience—of scientific,compara-
tive studiesof societies.“In an incisiveandreadablestyle,Spencermarshaledthe argu-
mentsfor a socialsciencein frontof the literateEnglish-speakingpublic,contendingthat
humansocietywaspartof natureandcouldbe studiedandexplainedscientifically.”
Moreover,the “readingof Spencer’s workby suchmen” as WilliamGrahamSumner,
LesterF. Ward,andprogressiveeugenicistCharlesCooley“between 1870 and 1890 led
directlyto the foundingof academicsociologyin the UnitedStates.” For suchreasons,
Carneirostatesunreservedly,“The presentwriter...freelyproclaimshis debtto Spencer,
and has madeSpencer’s writingsthe focusof muchof his own.”^85 The academicmathe-
maticianCharlesDodgson,morefamouslyknownasAlicein WonderlandauthorLewis
Carroll,alsoborea qualifiedadmirationfor Spencerianthought.Despitehis devoutrelig-
iousviews,CarrollrespectedCharlesDarwin’s workandownedcopiesof five of Spen-
cer’s books.^86
Amidstthe few theoristsof EmergentComplexityto admitSpencer’s rolein his own
disciplineis physicistandstockspeculatorJ. Doyne^87 Farmer;the middlenameis pro-
nouncedDOH-ann. FarmerconcedesthatComplexityTheory“isn’t new.It wasarticulat-