Darwin and Spencer

To Spencer's credit, he was an excellent writer.  Darwin had nothing on him in this regard.  In every other regard, though, the essential difference between Darwinism and Social Darwinism is the difference between science and junk.  Darwin records observable phenomena and invents a plausible mechanism to explain trends in his numerous data.  Spencer's belief system, mostly wishful thinking, lacks a basis of observable data as well as a plausible mechanism.  As the excellent William James mentions, Social Darwinists would have you believe that a man, having dined in a group of thirteen and, weeks later, slipped on a patch of ice and died, died because he dined in a group of thirteen, since it is no the cause that is responsible for the effect rather than the circumstances that engender the effect.  Just as with Mr. Smiles, Spencer's thought serves only to justify greed and vanity.