内容简介

Herbert Spencer(1820-1903)is regarded as one of the most influential social theorists of the Victorian period.This book places his famous argument for political individualism in his The Man versus the State alongside his early The Proper Sphere of Covenmment,out of which after due gestation emerged not only The Man versus the State but also Social Statics and his all-embracing theory of evolution.Both are valuable as unyielding statements of anti-state political theory and as sources of perceptiove comments on political events of the times An introduction sets them in their context and examines their main themes,The book will be of interest to both undergraduates and specialists in politics,political theory,social policy sociology and history.