HERBERT SPENCER'S THREE SOCIOLOGIES.

Herbert Spencer's was an experimental rather than a consistent mind. At times he insisted that society is a unity rather than a multiplicity; at other times he took the view that society is a multiplicity rather than a unity; and sometimes he taught that society is initially a multiplicity, but a multiplicity with an inherent tendency to develop into a unity. "The Principles of Sociology" propagate the first theory; "The Man versus the State" the second; "The Principles of Psychology" the third. It was this third doctrine which had the greatest influence on sociology because it inspired Sumner's folkway concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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