SPENCER'S INDIVIDUALISM 1^1 



the greatest pioneer of modern science, makes 

 a change of environment the prime necessity 

 of organic development. Darwin makes en- 

 vironment the selective factor in "Natural Se- 

 lection" and in this he is supported by every 

 living biologist of note. Karl Marx paralleled 

 these great advances by discovering that every 

 political philosophy takes its origin in some 

 particular economic environment. This is true 

 of Socialism and Individualism alike. 



And so if we wish to understand the his- 

 toric significance of Individualism we must go 

 back to the period of its birth and examine the 

 social processes of production of that day. 

 This takes us back to the early years of the 

 19th century. 



In the closing half of the l8th century, la- 

 borers individually owned the small and crude 

 tools by which they made their living. In this 

 stage of social development the laborer own- 

 ing the tools he used, appropriated the result. 

 There was here no contradiction and what- 

 ever notion of justice is supposed to inhere in 

 the "individual ownership of the means of pro- 

 duction" derives its whole force from the eco- 

 nomic status of the worker of this period. If 

 that status had remained unchanged. Social- 

 ism would never have been heard of. But in 

 the process of evolution the truth and justice 



