The article analyzes the philosophical and pedagogical concepts of the English scientist, philosopher and educator of XIX century, Herbert Spencer. His contribution to Western and Russian education lies in the fact that he took as a basis for the evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin «On the Survival of the Fittest Species», and for the first time in the history of pedagogical practice applied it to the education system called social Darwinism. The purpose of the study is due to the fact that, through the prism of the philosophical and pedagogical concepts of Herbert Spencer, to solve the following tasks: firstly, to reveal the essence of the philosophy of education of social Darwinism developed by Herbert Spencer; secondly, to analyze how his social Darwinist educational philosophy correlates with the 19th century educational system in England and the United States; thirdly, to find out in what sociocultural conditions the philosophy of social Darwinism was formed, and how it influenced the development of Western and Russian education. Guided by the target approach, philosophical and pedagogical research rises to the level of meta-scientific synthesis and solves the problems set by the author. The theoretical and methodological problems of the philosophy of education of social Darwinism, developed by Herbert Spencer, have been repeatedly considered in Russian pedagogical science, but not always carried out according to the original texts of the author himself. The novelty of the study is due to the fact that the analysis of the philosophical and pedagogical concepts of Herbert Spencer is carried out on the material of Western sources, which give us a holistic view of the educational system of Western Europe and the USA in the 19th–early 20th centuries. As a result, a conclusion is made on the relevance of Herbert Spencer's philosophy of education of social Darwinism and his contribution to modern pedagogy.

Keywords: Herbert Spencer's philosophy of education of social Darwinism, European system of children's education, dialectic principles, scientific and technological progress, educated specialists.