38 



to revise this first edition, and after working at it until De- 

 cember, 1870, published the first volume. The second volume 

 appeared in October, 1872. Speaking later of its reception, he 

 says: "An evolutionary view of mind was foreign to the ideas 

 of the time, and voted absurd: the result of setting it 1 forth 

 being pecuniary loss, and a good deal of reprobation. Natur- 

 ally, therefore, after the publication of 'The Origin of Species' 

 had caused the current of public opinion to set the other way, 

 a more sympathetic reception was to be counted upon for the 

 doctrine of Mental evolution in its elaborated form." 2 



As may be anticipated, then, in Spencer we find our- 

 selves once more in the familiar sphere of Association psy- 

 chology, to which he has brought a thorough-going exposition 

 of the evolution theory. That these are the facts, may be 

 shown by an examination of those of Spencer's works which 

 bear on this subject, namely, his 'First Principles', the 

 'Principles of Psychology', and the 'Principles of Ethics'. 



(1) Formula of Evolution. 



For Spencer, evolution is, so to say, the centre around 

 which everything turns. He defines it as follows: "Evolution 

 is an integration of matter and concomitant dissipation of 

 motion; during which the matter passes from an indefinite, 

 incoherent homogeneity to a definite, coherent heterogeneity, 

 and during which the retained motion undergoes a parallel 

 transformation." 3 Spencer seeks to show in the argument 

 which he advances in his 'First Principles', that all orders of 

 phenomena may be included within the scope of the one 

 formula. This will be evident from a survey of the following 

 quotations. In a local summary he states: "We next saw 

 that phenomena being cognizable by us only as products 

 of Force, manifested under the twofold form of attrac- 

 tion and repulsion, there results the general law that all 

 motion must occur in the direction of least resistance, or 

 in the direction of greatest attraction, or in the direction 

 of their resultant. It was pointed out that this law is every 

 instant illustrated in the movements of the celestial bodies. 

 The innumerable transpositions of matter, gaseous, liquid, 

 and solid, going on over the earth's surface, were shown to 

 conform to it. Evidence was given that this same ultimate 

 principle of motion underlies the structural and functional 

 changes of organisms. Throughout the succession of those 



a i.e., the first edition. 



2 "An Autobiography", p. 220. 



'Herbert Spencer, "First Principles", 3rd ed., 1875, p. 396. 



