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First published 1867

First Principles (2nd edition, 1867)

by Herbert Spencer

London: Williams and Norgate, 1867 (2nd ed.); Online Library of Liberty edition317 pages

First Principles (2nd edition, 1867) by Herbert Spencer is available as a free PDF and EPUB download at freecapitalists.org.

Author
Herbert Spencer
First published
1867
Format
PDF and EPUB
Pages
317
Publisher
London: Williams and Norgate, 1867 (2nd ed.); Online Library of Liberty edition
License
Public domain by publication date.

The opening volume of Spencer's Synthetic Philosophy, first published in 1862 and here in the second edition of 1867. It argues that science and religion meet in the Unknowable and then sets out a general theory of evolution as a law of matter, motion, and force that governs stars, organisms, and societies alike.

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Is First Principles (2nd edition, 1867) free to download?
Yes. The complete 317-page PDF and EPUB downloads directly from this page (1.1 MB). There is no signup, no account and no paywall.
How long is First Principles (2nd edition, 1867)?
317 pages, 43 chapters, and about 183,237 words in the edition this archive serves.
Who wrote First Principles (2nd edition, 1867)?
Herbert Spencer (1820–1903) was one of the leading 19th-century English radical individualists. He began working as a journalist for the laissez-faire magazine The Economist in the 1850s. This archive holds 15 of Spencer's works.

What's in it

43 chapters · 183,237 words · free to read here

  1. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
  2. FIRST PRINCIPLES.
  3. Vol. I.
  4. Vol. II.
  5. Vol. I.
  6. Vol. I.
  7. Vol. II.
  8. Vol. III.
  9. Vol. I.
  10. Vol. II.
  11. CONTENTS.
  12. CHAPTER I.: RELIGION AND SCIENCE.
  13. CHAPTER II.: ULTIMATE RELIGIOUS IDEAS.
  14. CHAPTER III.: ULTIMATE SCIENTIFIC IDEAS.
  15. CHAPTER IV.: THE RELATIVITY OF ALL KNOWLEDGE.
  16. CHAPTER V.: THE RECONCILIATION.
  17. CHAPTER I.: PHILOSOPHY DEFINED.
  18. CHAPTER II.: THE DATA OF PHILOSOPHY.
  19. CHAPTER III.: SPACE, TIME, MATTER, MOTION, AND FORCE.
  20. CHAPTER IV.: THE INDESTRUCTIBILITY OF MATTER.
  21. CHAPTER V.: THE CONTINUITY OF MOTION.
  22. CHAPTER VI.: THE PERSISTENCE OF FORCE.∗
  23. CHAPTER VII.: THE PERSISTENCE OF RELATIONS AMONG FORCES.
  24. CHAPTER VIII.: THE TRANSFORMATION AND EQUIVALENCE OF FORCES.
  25. CHAPTER IX.: THE DIRECTION OF MOTION.
  26. CHAPTER X.: THE RHYTHM OF MOTION.
  27. CHAPTER XI.: RECAPITULATION, CRITICISM, AND RECOMMENCEMENT.
  28. CHAPTER XII.: EVOLUTION AND DISSOLUTION.
  29. CHAPTER XIII.: SIMPLE AND COMPOUND EVOLUTION.
  30. CHAPTER XIV.: THE LAW OF EVOLUTION.
  31. CHAPTER XV.: THE LAW OF EVOLUTION CONTINUED.
  32. CHAPTER XVI.: THE LAW OF EVOLUTION CONTINUED.
  33. CHAPTER XVII.: THE LAW OF EVOLUTION CONCLUDED.
  34. CHAPTER XVIII.: THE INTERPRETATION OF EVOLUTION.
  35. CHAPTER XIX.: THE INSTABILITY OF THE HOMOGENEOUS.∗
  36. CHAPTER XX.: THE MULTIPLICATION OF EFFECTS.
  37. CHAPTER XXI.: SEGREGATION.
  38. CHAPTER XXII.: EQUILIBRATION.
  39. CHAPTER XXIII.: DISSOLUTION.
  40. CHAPTER XXIV.: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION.
  41. About Liberty Fund
  42. The Online Library of Liberty
  43. Copyright Information
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Herbert Spencer 1820–1903

Herbert Spencer (1820–1903) was one of the leading 19th-century English radical individualists. He began working as a journalist for the laissez-faire magazine The Economist in the 1850s. Read more about Herbert Spencer.

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