# From Optimism to Pessimism: The Case of Herbert Spencer, Part 2

**URL:** <https://www.libertarianism.org/podcasts/excursions/from-optimism-to-pessimism-the-case-of-herbert-spencer-part-2>

**By** George H. Smith

**Published:** April 15, 2015

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George H. Smith discusses the controversy about Spencer’s use of opium and its possible effect on his later pessimism.

[Originally published in essay form on July 17, 2012.](https://www.libertarianism.org/essays/excursions/optimism-pessimism-case-herbert-spencer-part-2)

_Narrated by James Foster._