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Thomas Malthus

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Thomas Robert Malthus

Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834) was a British political economist and scholar, known for his theories on population and food supply.[1] In 1798, Malthus published AN ESSAY ON THE PRINCIPLE OF POPULATION AS IT AFFECTS THE FUTURE IMPROVEMENT OF SOCIETY. In his first edition, published anonymously, he articulates his base postulates: "Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio. Subsistence only increases in an arithmetical ratio." [2]. Building on these questionable claims,[3][4][5] he further asserts that these patterns of growth are inevitable, and would lead to starvation among humans, such that self-imposed, strategic limits on human reproduction are necessary for the improvement of human society.[1]

In his 3rd edition, Malthus provides clarity on his strategy, advocating policies to proactively shape mortality rates among the poor.[6] Beyond denying charitable support, he argues for dense, crowded accommodations, situated near "stagnant pools" and "marshy and unwholesome situations." He further suggests withholding treatments for preventable diseases and to "court the return of the plague."[6] Malthus argued, as a fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge,[6] that such measures were in "hope of bettering our condition, and the fear of want, rather than want itself, that is the best stimulus to industry."[7] While advocating policies to increase mortality, Malthus opposed contraception, which he found immoral.[8] He revised his treatise on population throughout his career, with six editions that would more than double its size and add second and third volumes.[2]

Malthus and his peers applied these principles with noted effect during his lifetime, realizing policies to deny public assistance to the poor, and limit availability of vaccines for preventable diseases such as rubella, a leading cause of mental retardation in that era.[1] Although Malthus actively opposed chattel slavery, his economic theories were applied by both sides of the slavery debate, in the United States as well as Britain.[9][10]

Malthus wrote plainly of his view of the Irish: "The quiet and peaceable habits of the instructed Scotch peasant, compared to the turbulent disposition of the ignorant Irishman, ought not to be without effect on every impartial reasoner."[11] His 1817 correspondence to colleague David Ricardo was prescient, writing of the Irish "a great part of the population should be swept from the soil."[12] During the Irish Potato Famine, Sir Charles Trevelyan, a student of Malthus, was responsible for administrative oversight of aid to the poor. Trevelyan, who shared Malthus' views, restricted food aid to the Irish,[13] while of the Scottish he wrote in 1846 that "the people must not, under any circumstances, be allowed to starve,"[14] Both Scotland and Ireland saw significant emigration during the period, but mortality was minimal in Scotland, while in Ireland over a million died.[15]

The influence of Malthus was widely recognized in the Eugenics movement, both as it emerged as accepted science and following its condemnation subsequent to World War II. Duggan discusses the influence of Malthus on Eugenics, recognizing how Eugenics accepts Malthus' purpose while substituting "rational selection" for "natural selection".[16] The first issue of The Annals of Eugenics recognized Malthus with a feature portrait.[17] Modern scholars further recognize the influence of Malthus' theories on Eugenics.[5][18][19][1] Malthus is also acknowledged for the role of his theories in Social Darwinism.[20][21] Modern scholars continue to note the influence of Malthus on these core themes of racist pseudoscience.[19][5][22][23][24]

  1. ^ a b c d Chase, Allan (1977). The legacy of Malthus : the social costs of the new scientific racism (1st ed.). Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 6–10. ISBN 0-394-48045-7. OCLC 1150216455.
  2. ^ a b Malthus, Thomas Robert (1895). Parallel chapters from the first and second editions of An Essay on the principle of population (2nd ed.). Macmillan and Co. pp. v. OCLC 23701326.
  3. ^ Chase, Allan (1977). The legacy of Malthus : the social costs of the new scientific racism (1st ed.). New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 75. ISBN 0-394-48045-7. OCLC 2283833.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  4. ^ Smith, Pete (2015-08). "Malthus is still wrong: we can feed a world of 9–10 billion, but only by reducing food demand". Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. 74 (3): 187–190. doi:10.1017/S0029665114001517. ISSN 0029-6651. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ a b c Shermer, Michael. "Why Malthus Is Still Wrong". Scientific American. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
  6. ^ a b c Malthus, Thomas Robert (1806). An Essay on the Principle of Population (3rd ed.). London: Thomas Bensley (printer). pp. 358–359.
  7. ^ Malthus, Thomas Robert (1806). An Essay on the Principle of Population (3rd ed.). London: Thomas Bensley (printer). p. 287.
  8. ^ Binion, Rudolph (1999). ""More Men than Corn": Malthus versus the Enlightenment, 1798". Eighteenth-Century Studies. 32 (4): 564–569. ISSN 0013-2586.
  9. ^ Hodgson, Dennis (2009). "Malthus' Essay on Population and the American Debate over Slavery". Comparative Studies in Society and History. 51 (4): 742–770. ISSN 0010-4175.
  10. ^ Spengler, J. J. (1935-04-01). "Malthusianism and the Debate on Slavery". South Atlantic Quarterly. 34 (2): 170–189. doi:10.1215/00382876-34-2-170. ISSN 0038-2876.
  11. ^ Malthus, Thomas (1806). An Essay on the Principle of Population, Volume 2 (3rd ed.). Routledge/Thoemmes Press. pp. 419–420.
  12. ^ Mokyr, Joel (1980). "Malthusian Models and Irish History". The Journal of Economic History. 40 (1): 159–166. ISSN 0022-0507.
  13. ^ O'Flynn, Micheal (2009-09-22). "Food Crises and the Ghost of Malthus". New Proposals: Journal of Marxism and Interdisciplinary Inquiry. 3 (1): 33–41. ISSN 1715-6718.
  14. ^ Bourke, Austin (6 May 1977). "Apologia for a dead civil servant". The Irish Times.
  15. ^ "The Great Irish Famine 1845-1851 – A Brief Overview – The Irish Story". Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  16. ^ Duggan, Malone (March 1915). "Neo-Malthusianism and Eugenics". Texas Medical Journal. 30 (9): 418–422.
  17. ^ "Annals of Eugenics Portrait Series, No 1". Annals of Eugenics: A Journal for the Scientific Study of Racial Problems. 1 (1). Francis Galton Laboratory for National Eugenics, University of London. 1925. Strewer of the Seed which reached its Harvest in the Ideas of Charles Darwin and Francis Galton. (caption below portrait of Malthus)
  18. ^ Taguieff, Pierre-André (2007). "Au c?ur du raisonnement galtonien : le paradoxe de la politique malthusienne et sa solution eugéniste: « L'intelligence peut être aidée ou exercée, mais aucun apprentissage, aucun enseignement ne peut la créer. Elle doit être transmise héréditairement. » Karl Pearson". Raisons politiques (in French). 26 (2): 175. doi:10.3917/rai.026.0175. ISSN 1291-1941.
  19. ^ a b Mayhew, Robert J. (2015). "Introduction". An essay on the principle of population and other writings. Thomas Malthus. UK: Penguin Classics. ISBN 978-0-14-139282-0. OCLC 913173981.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  20. ^ Rumney, Jay (1966). Herbert Spencer's sociology : a study in the history of social theory. Internet Archive. New York : Atherton Press. pp. 11, 231. ISBN 978-0-202-36167-3.
  21. ^ Claeys, Gregory (2000). "The "Survival of the Fittest" and the Origins of Social Darwinism". Journal of the History of Ideas. 61 (2): 223–240. doi:10.2307/3654026. ISSN 0022-5037.
  22. ^ Follett, Chelsea (July 21, 2020). "Neo-Malthusianism and Coercive Population Control in China and India: Overpopulation Concerns Often Result in Coercion". CATO Institute.
  23. ^ "The Myth of Overpopulation and the Folks Who Brought it to You | USCCB". www.usccb.org. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
  24. ^ Ridley, Matt (2015-12-27). "The long shadow of Malthus". Matt Ridley. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
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