 James’s paper is primarily concerned with using what he regards as a proper understanding of Darwinism to undermine the “so-called evolutionary philosophy of Mr Herbert Spencer” (ibid., 422). Spencer had argued that ‘great men’ were of secondary importance in determining the course of history, on the grounds that ‘Before he can remake his society, his society must make him’ (from Spencer’s Study of Sociology, quoted in ibid., 449). The great man needs to be made, and society does this. Hence ultimately it is society itself that explains social change.