Home › MCQs › SSC Sociology › Question #1665
Back to Questions
SSC Sociology QUESTION #1665
Question 1
Herbert Spencer adapted Darwinian evolutionary principles to the analysis of human societies, arguing that social progress results from competitive selection among individuals and groups. This perspective is most accurately identified as:
  • Survival of the fittest applied to social evolution and competition✔️
  • Class struggle as the engine of historical transformation
  • The development of social solidarity through collective consciousness
  • The progressive rationalization of social institutions
Correct Answer Explanation
Herbert Spencer's Social Darwinism applied the principle of 'survival of the fittest' (a phrase Spencer himself coined) to human society, arguing that social inequality and competition are natural and that social progress results from the elimination of the weak and the flourishing of the strong — a perspective later used to justify laissez-faire capitalism and imperialism.