In 'The Principles of Sociology' Spencer rejected the sociology of Auguste Comte's positivism and made some valuable contributions to early sociology, attempting to reformulate social science in terms of evolutionary biology. A 'social organism' evolved from the simpler state to the more complex according to the universal law of evolution. Spencer's theories of laissez-faire, survival-of-the-fittest and minimal human interference in the processes of natural law had an enduring influence on thinkers and politicians such as Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman and Margaret Thatcher.
Social Science in context : historical, sociological and global perspectives
