the Life and Writings
By Jon Mareane
Origins and Uprbringing
Thomas Robert Malthus was born
in 1766, in Dorking, England
He was the second son of eight
children, six of whom were girls
Father Daniel Malthus, was active
in politics and enlightenment
Corresponded with Voltaire,
Rousseau and Hume
When Malthus was a child, his father brought
Jean-Jacques Rousseau to the Malthus home
Malthus was educated privately,
partly by his father and partly by
Strongly politically driven
At the age of eighteen, in
1784, Malthus went up to
In spite of a "marked
impediment of speech,"
Malthus did remarkably well in
Principle of Population Essay
Principle of Population essay
Full title: “An Essay on the Principle of Population as it affects the
Future Improvement on Society, with Remarks on the
Speculation of Mr. Godwin, M. Condorcet and other Writers.”
Malthuses most famous and paramount work
The basic idea expressed in Malthus’s 50, 000 word “Population”
essay was simple; that population increases exponentially while
food production increases at a constant rate
Deeper Malthusian Theory
Humans have two inherent
and insatiable appetites; one
for sex and one for food
Population is controlled by
“vice and misery” while under
Once the populations demand
for food exceeds its supply, the
weakest will die off
Malthus blamed much of the population problem
on the poor
Father of birth control and family planning
Religious institutions even today disapprove
Theory counteracted the progress they were making
in societal development and change.
Connections to Darwin
After reading Malthus’s essay and
connecting it to his findings on his
voyage to South America did he
formulate his theory of natural
Organisms reproduce at an
exponential rate, living off their
available resources until the
resource becomes scarce, at
which point the population levels
off and those best suited to take
advantage of the limited resources
survive and evolve.
Recent advances in medical and agricultural
technology seemed to have disbanded
If we broaden the scope of Malthusian
thought to include other non-edible resources
such as oil and coal, we see that Malthus’s
thoughts may still ring true
Finance And Economics: Malthus, the false prophet; Economics
focus. (2008, May). The
Economist, 387(8580), 94. Retrieved February 21, 2010, from
Platinum Periodicals. (Document ID: 1480833101).
John Attarian. (2002). Malthus revisited. The World &
I, 17(11), 257-271. Retrieved
February 9, 2010, from Platinum Periodicals. (Document
“NPR TALK OF THE NATION.” Interview by Suarez and Cohen.
Malthus. NPR. 10 June 1998. Radio.
Unknown. "Malthus, Thomas Robert." The Hutchinson Dictionary
of Ideas 2004: n.p.
SIRS Renaissance. Web. 09 February 2010.
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