Education: Intellectual, Moral, and Physical
Herbert Spencer's 1861 essays arguing that science is the knowledge of most worth.
At a glance
Key ideas
Education prepares for complete living, Science above all, Learning should be pleasurable …
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- Spencer collected four review articles from 1854 to 1859 into one book.
- He asks what knowledge is of most worth and answers: science, for self-preservation, earning a living, raising children, citizenship and enjoying the arts alike.
- He argues against teaching by authority and rote, for learning that is pleasurable and grounded in a child's own observation.
- In moral education, children should feel the natural consequences of their acts rather than artificial punishments.
Why it matters
- It challenged an English schooling built on Latin, Greek and mathematics; Charles W.
- Eliot, writing in 1911, called Spencer "a true educational pioneer".
Key facts
- Author
- Herbert Spencer1
- Published
- 1861; Spencer's preface is dated London, May 18611
- First appeared
- As four review articles: North British Review (May 1854), British Quarterly Review (April 1858 and April 1859), Westminster Review (July 1859)1
- Chapters
- What Knowledge Is of Most Worth?; Intellectual Education; Moral Education; Physical Education1
- Edition
- Reprinted in Everyman's Library in 1911 as Essays on Education and Kindred Subjects, with an introduction by Charles W. Eliot1
Key ideas
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Education prepares for complete living1
"To prepare us for complete living is the function which education has to discharge", and courses should be judged by it.
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Science above all1
"Learning the meaning of things is better than learning the meaning of words"; science trains memory, judgement and morals better than languages.
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Learning should be pleasurable1
Instruction should interest children; the hardest work is done by pupils who are interested.
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Natural consequences1
Parents should let children experience the normal consequences of their conduct instead of artificial penalties.
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Play over drill1
Gymnastics and drill cannot replace the free play that instinct prompts, for girls as well as boys.
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