Benjamin Kidd (9 September 1858–2 October 1916) was a British sociologist whose first job was a civil service clerk, but by persistent self-education, he became internationally famous by the publication of his book Social Evolution in 1894.

Kidd argued that the "evolution of society and of modern civilization" is caused not by reason or science, but by the force of "religious beliefs.

In London, Kidd's life was "frugal and solitary," but his ambition drove him to attend evening classes and to read incessantly.

He believed that he had a "mission in life" to be a self-made "social prophet" as were Auguste Comte and Herbert Spencer.

[3] During the last ten years, Kidd focussed on writing Social Evolution, the book that propelled him into international fame.

In short order, he went from being an obscure clerk to the internationally famous social prophet toward which he had long worked.

The major theme of the book (and later works), is that religion is "the chief agency in promoting philanthropy and the political enfranchisement."

[9] Kidd wrote about these parallels in the "Application of the Doctrine of Evolution to Sociological Theory" as the Preface to the Encyclopædia Britannica 1902, Vol 5.

[10] Social Evolution passed through several editions and was translated into German (1895), Swedish (1895), French (1896), Russian (1897), Italian (1898), Chinese (1899), Czech (1900), Danish (1900), and Arabic (1913).

Kidd ascribed Western civilization's "modern progress toward the equalization of the conditions of life" to the "immense fund of altruism" that had been generated by the Christian religion.

[11] A third reason for the book's success was that Kidd predicted a future in which workers would have equal rights and opportunities.

[12] This optimism appealed to the workers who in the Gilded Age were often "consigned to lives of bitter toil with little hope for advancement.

[14] The development of Western civilization has been undergirded by the "Christian religion" that brought something new to the world: "an enthusiastic devotion to its corporate welfare".

Due to the Christian religion's "altruism," Western civilization has witnessed a "great extension of political power" to the masses.

[14] Effects of the "great development of humanitarian feelings" that marks Western civilization include charitable giving, suppression of the slave trade, concern to remedy injustices, sensitivity for the "misery or suffering" of humans and animals, and the evolution toward a society with "no privileged class" and "equality of opportunity".

Alfred Marshall, an influential economist, found the book so exciting and interesting that it spawned an acquaintanceship with Kidd.

[19] Lester Frank Ward, "the acknowledged founder of American sociology," called the "tone" of Social Evolution "generally healthy.

"[1] Attacks "Believers were offended by Kidd's functional defence of religion, scientists by his faith in unreason and loose speculation, the scholarly by his pinched concept of rationality and his slanted account of history.

"[21] One scholarly book expressed "grave distrust of the process by which Mr. Kidd reaches his conclusion" and "of the terms in which he formulates" it.

"[23] The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography' (1927) described Social Evolution as "incoherent," "full of pretentious rhetoric," and like "sensational journalism."

Under his pseudonym Hugh Mortimer Cecil, Newman criticized Kidd's notion of progress and the teleological content of his model of social evolution as pseudoscience.

Looking back, he saw a continuation of Christian altruism in "the ideal of permanent goodwill among nations" with arbitration taking the place of war.

His praise of women in the chapter "Woman is the Psychic Centre of Power in the Social Integration" appealed to feminists.

Kidd viewed women as "anti-pagan, i.e. unselfish, and devoted to the interests of the race," all "in accordance with Christian altruism.