Malthus is the means of subsistence. Biography. The nature and increase of land rent
18-19th centuries. His main works were published in 1798 and 1820. Malthus and his "population theory" made a huge contribution to the development of science.
Biography
Malthus was born in 1766, February 14th. His father was a very outstanding person. He was fond of science, maintained friendly relations with Hume and Rousseau. In 1788, Malthus graduated from Jesus College of the University of Cambridge. According to the existing custom, as the youngest son, he had to begin a spiritual career. After college, Malthus took office. In 1793 he received a theological degree. From 1797 to 1803, Malthus was vicar in one of the parishes of Surrey. However, from youth he was fascinated by science. Therefore, at the same time, Malthus began to teach. All his free time was occupied with the study of the problems of interconnection with natural processes. In 1805, he accepted the offer to become a professor at the Department of Contemporary History and Political Economy of the College of the East India Company. Here he also served as a priest.
Theory of Malthus (briefly)
She became the main work of his life. The first edition came out in 1798 anonymously. Malthus and his population theory then provoked numerous attacks. This is precisely the main reason why from 1799 to 1802 he began to travel to some European countries. During trips, he collected information, statistics. All this information was used by him to adjust his work. After this tour in 1803, under his own name, he publishes a new revised edition of the book. Subsequent works were also significantly expanded and updated. The theory of Malthus, in short, has become an extensive treatise, including historical excursions, works of other authors.
Specificity of compilation
In the very first edition of the theory of population of Malthus summarized his theses regarding the demographic status of several countries. However, when compiling the essay, the author was not even aware of simple statistical data not only from other states, but also from England itself. For example, he believed that the population of Britain - 7 million people. According to the census conducted in 1801, this amount amounted to almost 11 million. In preparing the second edition, he took into account not only the statistical information received, but also church records. In addition, the theory of Malthus was supplemented by information on other countries. During his lifetime, 6 editions were issued. Each time, the Malthusian theory came out in an increasing circulation.
The nature and increase of land rent
This is another extensive work that Malthus created. It was published in 1815. In this work, the author, based on the natural nature of land income, tried to uncover the mechanisms of its formation and increase, to substantiate the value of rent in the implementation of the aggregate product issued by society. But his final judgments were made somewhat later. In 1820, his second main work was published, which reflected the economic theory of Malthus.
The essence of the concept of 1798
Thomas Malthus and his theory set the primary goal of improving human life. In his work, the author uses various categories and concepts. In his work there are not only economic, but also natural philosophical, sociological, aesthetic, as well as religious concepts. In his work, he considered whatever of the whole. The population theory of T. Malthus was expressed as an eternal, unshakable, natural and inevitable law of nature. The author argued that the number of people increases exponentially, and the means of subsistence in arithmetic progression. According to the population theory of T. Malthus, two centuries later, the ratio between the number of people and means would be 256: 9, and after three - 4096: 13. After 2,000 years, the gap between the categories would be innumerable and limitless. This theory of T. Malthus will subsequently be called the law of declining fertility of the earth. Doubling the number of inhabitants of the planet, according to the author, will be equivalent to the fact that the size of the Earth will decrease by half. The more people there are, the less left will be the cultivated land per person. In this regard, there is a tendency for the expansion of food resources to lag behind the increase in the population of the planet. Malthus's theory was not based on any real facts. The author proceeded only from assumptions that were not supported by reliable evidence, materials that had at least some significant practical value.
Contradiction
Malthus's theory, however, contains one fact. But he not only does not justify his assumptions, but, on the contrary, speaks of his dishonesty as a scientist. The author mentions in his thoughts about doubling the population of North America in a quarter of a century. He believes that this fact confirms his assumption that the number of people will increase exponentially. But in reality, as the thinker himself notes, the increase in the number of inhabitants does not occur unhindered. The author notes that the thesis regarding doubling does not hold. It is easy to calculate that otherwise in a thousand years the number of people would increase by 240 times. This means that if in 1001 g. e. if 2 people lived, then in 2001 there would be 2 x 1012 (or 2 trillion people). This amount is approximately 300 times less than the actual value today.
Problems in concept
- The moral restraint. The author believed that each person’s duty is that before deciding to marry, he needs to achieve a state in which he will be able to provide his offspring with livelihoods. At the same time, the propensity for family life should retain its strength in order to maintain energy and awakening in the celibate individual, the desire to achieve the desired level of well-being by labor.
- Vices. To them, Malthus attributed unnatural ties, licentiousness, desecration of the family bed, various tricks that are being undertaken to hide vicious ties.
- Misfortune. The author considered them hunger, war, plague, epidemics, various excesses, poor nutrition of children, excessive, hard work, harmful occupations, and so on.
However, it should be said that the doubling of the number of people actually took place at a certain stage in the development of society. But it happened as a result of migration, and not due to natural growth.
Poverty of people
According to Malthus’s theory, the main causes of poverty are not problems of social organization in society. The poor have no right to demand anything from the rich. According to the author, the latter are not guilty of the insolvency of the former. Malthus's theory of poverty is based on the fact that poverty does not depend to a large extent or even on the form of government or the uneven distribution of goods. The rich are not able to provide the poor with food and work. In this regard, the poor, in fact, have no right to demand food or activities. Thus, according to the Malthus population theory, inevitable natural laws are the main causes of poverty.
Purpose of the concept
It is revealed directly in the very reasoning of the author. Malthus's theory is oriented toward paralyzing the class struggle of the workers, proving the futility and groundlessness of the demands that the proletariat makes to the bourgeoisie. The author especially emphasized that the introduction and dissemination of his idea among the poor will have a beneficial effect on the working masses, which, of course, was beneficial to the ruling class. Malthus did his best to deprive the soil of the struggle of the proletariat. At the same time, he himself cynically and openly opposed the fulfillment of the elementary requirements of justice and the life rights of workers. The author suggested that the proletariat itself is guilty of its failure. The proletariat can reduce its poverty only by reducing the birth rate. He considered moral restraint, misery, abstinence from beggarly marriages, exhausting work, illness, war, epidemics, hunger as measures to combat the increase in the number of people. In this, he saw the only effective and natural means with which you can destroy the "extra people".
Malthus' Third Party Theory
the effect
Almost immediately after the publication, the theory of reproduction of Malthus became the subject of discussions among public figures, researchers and among non-professionals. In addition to the followers of the concept, opponents of the provisions appeared. Some of the critics have put forward fairly constructive arguments. The work of Malthus was subsequently referred to by experts from various scientific fields. His work had a key influence on the development of Darwin's concept.
Criticism of Marxists
Representatives of the classical school revealed the reactionary role of population theory. Marx proved that the essence of the concept is based on the replacement of the specific socio-economic laws of capitalism with "immutable and eternal" natural postulates. Marx proved that population theory is absent altogether. Each social formation has its own specific law. There is no absolute overpopulation and cannot be. Growth is a relative phenomenon. It acts as a specific feature of the capitalist system arising under the influence of the law of accumulation. It is this, and not natural laws, that determines the poverty of the proletariat. As the main "argument", Malthus used the unscientific law on diminishing fertility. Marxists sharply criticized this concept. They argued that the author and his supporters did not take into account the increase in productive forces, the progress of technology. Lenin, criticizing the theory, said that there was no general difficulty in obtaining food, but the problem of food only for a particular class of society - the proletariat. This difficulty is determined by specific capitalist, not natural laws.
Mises opinion
This author attached particular importance to the influence of the Malthusian concept on the theory of liberalism. Mises believed that the assumptions made were the social doctrine of liberalism. He called the theory of the division of labor as the core of this idea. Only with close interconnection with this concept can one correctly interpret the social conditions of Malthusian theory. Society appears as an association of people for the better use of natural factors of existence. In fact, society is a ban on the mutual extermination of people. In society, instead of struggle, mutual assistance is used. This forms the main motivation for the behavior of its members. Within the framework of society, there should not be a struggle, there is only peace. Any confrontation, in essence, slows down social cooperation. Mises gives his explanation of the findings of Malthus. He says that private ownership of productive assets is a regulatory principle. It provides a balance between an increasing number of consumers and a decreasing amount of resources. This principle forms a dependence for each individual on the quota for an economic product, which is reserved on the coefficient of labor and property. He finds his expression in a decrease in the birth rate under the influence of society, the elimination of extra members of society by analogy with the plant or animal world. In the human population, the function of the struggle for existence is realized by the "moral brake that limits offspring."
Protection concept
Mises, among other things, rejects the allegations of cruelty and hatred against Malthus. The author warns readers against incorrect conclusions. He says that in society there is no and cannot exist a struggle for survival. Mises believes that making such barbaric inferences based on the Malthusian theory is a grave mistake. He argued: statements taken out of context and used for misinterpretation are explained by the insufficiency and incompleteness of the first edition of the work. The original publication was compiled before the idea of \u200b\u200bclassical political economy was formed.
Use concept
Despite the general scientific failure of the theory of population, it was a great success in bourgeois circles. This was due to the fact that the class demands of this part of society were highly satisfied with ideas. The most sinister role of the concept is currently being noted. The active dissemination of the ideas of neo-Malthusianism in different interpretations is caused by an accelerated increase in the population (to a greater extent in developing countries). This trend is accompanied by an exacerbation of environmental problems, an increase in the gap in the level of progress between countries.
Club of Rome
It is an international non-governmental organization. It unites social, political, scientific figures from many states of the world. The Club of Rome put forward the thesis that by the middle of the 20th century, humanity had reached the limits of exponential growth within a limited space. This idea was presented at the first report in 1972. In 1974, one of the models for solving global problems was justified, the concept of improving the world system in the plane of limited growth. The latter is understood as the procedure of structural differentiation, which has significant differences from exclusively quantitative undifferentiated increase. The authors use this concept with respect to the growth of the world system similarly to the development of the organism, within the framework of which both the specialization of various elements and their functional mutual dependence are noted. The need to apply just such an approach, according to participants, is due to the interdependence of crisis phenomena. These, in particular, include demographic, raw materials, energy, food, natural and other problems.
Conclusion
If, by the turn of the next century, intrafamily planning will extend to almost all the inhabitants of the planet, and if such a restriction exists at the level of 2.2-2.5 children per marriage, then there is reason to believe that by the end of the 21st century the number of people on Earth, stabilizes up to 11-12 billion people. The most important prerequisites in solving the problem of regulating the increase in the human population are profound spiritual and social transformations, raising the cultural and material level of the peoples living on the planet. In this case, we are not talking about forced birth control, according to the theory put forward by Malthus. The essence of problem solving is the development and implementation of a number of thoughtful measures. Thanks only to this approach, in some states and regions the population growth should accelerate, while in others it should begin to slow down. The need for an objective, conscious limitation of population growth, dictated by the environmental imperative, necessitates the use of a Neo-Malthusian concept. The relationship of factors in it is two-way. The work of Malthus laid the foundation for the subsequent improvement of the demographic direction in the science of economic development.
Significant attention to the problems of cost and implementation was paid by the representative of English economic thought, Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834). Having the rank of clergyman, he simultaneously taught at the College of Cambridge University, and from 1805 until the end of his life served as professor of history and political economy at the college of the East India Company.
Malthus gained worldwide fame for his work Experience on the Law of Population (1798). He set forth his ideas in the field of political economy in his works The Study of the Nature and Growth of Rent (1815) and The Principles of Political Economy, Considered Based on Their Practical Application (1820).
Malthus, unlike Say, did not ignore the socio-economic contradictions, but tried to uncover their cause and conditions. This was manifested in his formulation of the law of population, which he interprets as eternal.
The concept of population consists of three provisions:
- a person’s biological ability to procreate exceeds his physical ability to increase his food resources
- any restrictions on population growth - forced or preventive - always apply
- the final limit of the reproductive capacity of the population is determined by the restriction on food resources
Malthus confirms these theoretical positions with the help of progressions: geometric - for population growth and arithmetic - for food growth. An increase in food, in his opinion, is impossible, since land resources are limited, and technical improvement in agriculture is too slow. To prove this position, he gives the law of diminishing soil fertility. This law is always valid, but it is, according to Malthus, hindered by certain conditions that restrain population growth (precautionary and destructive). Poverty is a natural phenomenon, and people themselves are to blame for their suffering. However, it is overpopulation that creates competition, leads to an increase in agriculture, an increase in labor productivity — such is Malthus's conclusion.
However, the statistical calculations of Malthus are based on data on the growth of the US population in the XVI-XVIII centuries, which cannot be the basis for the general pattern of the growth of the Earth's population. As for the law of diminishing fertility, its complete unconvincingness and limitation were later proved.
In understanding the value of Malthus relied on the works of A. Smith. He can meet the definition of the value of goods by labor and the determination of value by the ratio of supply and demand. But he carries out the measurement of value by the work he buys, the amount of time for which he can hire a worker.
The proposed concept of measuring value served as a justification for the fact that labor is the source of only one part of the value of goods - the part corresponding to wages, i.e. separated profit from labor, considering it a premium to the value of the goods.
Malthus developed an original implementation concept, which is fundamentally different from the theory of J.B.Say and D. Ricardo. Its essence is as follows: in a society consisting of capitalists and workers, profit cannot be realized, and this leads to general and constant overproduction and crises. Most consumers are workers who cannot buy back the products they produce, since their value exceeds the value of the wages paid (based on his theory of value). The difference between wages and the cost of production cannot be covered by the demand shown by the capitalists, since they doomed themselves to frugality in order to save part of their income and accumulate luxury goods by depriving their usual amenities and pleasures. Consequently, the overproduction of goods will exist as long as purchasing power is constrained by additional unproductive consumption by a part of society that does not belong to the classes of capitalists and workers. As for the wages of workers, then, according to the arguments of Malthus, its growth would not lead to an increase in their consumption, but to idleness.
Therefore, production requires expenses from profit and rent. These costs should be directed towards luxury goods and non-production services (in particular, the consumption of landlords).
To mitigate the effects of crises and unemployment, Malthus proposed a public works program, such as road construction, believing that they would not require any additional allocation.
In the future, the provisions and conclusions of Malthus were subjected to very serious criticism, however, it should be recognized that the main significance was to pose the problem of the role of savings in the economy and the refutation of the law of the Say markets.
1766-1834 gg.) - English economist. Malthus formulated the prehistoric law of population, according to which population growth occurs in geometric, and the growth of means of subsistence - only in arithmetic progression. From here he deduced the contradictions of social development. Malthus connects the possibility of overcoming these contradictions with the prevention of population growth (regulation of marriages, birth control), as well as with the "natural" regulation of the population through hunger, epidemics, wars, etc.
Excellent definition
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Malthus, Thomas
(Feb 17, 1766 - Dec 23, 1834) - English economist, landowner ideologist. aristocracy and most reaction. layers of the bourgeoisie, priest of the Anglican Church. Rod in the landowner's family. From 1805 until the end of his life - prof. history and polit. Saving College at Haleybury near Hartford. DOS the work of M. "Experience on the law of population ..." ("An essay on the principle of population, as it affects the future improvement of society", 1798, first edition - anonymous), which survived six editions during M.'s life, was the answer Godwin, who opposed private property and demanded a politic. reform. Book M. appeared at a time when, in connection with the prom. the coup and the further landlessness of the peasantry intensified unemployment. M. explained it as a reaction. ideologist of the bourgeoisie, who sought to justify the bourgeois. system and prove that the cause of the disasters of the people is not in social relations, but in eternal, purely biological. laws of nature. According to the "natural law" put forward by M., the population is supposedly growing geometrically. progression, and the means of subsistence - in arithmetic, as a result of which "absolute overpopulation" inevitably sets in. M. saw the causes of the calamities of the working people in the "frivolous habits" of the working class, which supposedly propagated "unreasonably". Hunger, disease, war M. cynically proclaimed "positive factors" that have a beneficial effect on humanity, as they reduce the population. Trying to "substantiate" the thesis that food production opportunities are limited, M. referred to the so-called the law of diminishing performance is followed. costs, or, in relation to agriculture, "the law of diminishing soil fertility." M. opposed governments. help to poor people, edge, in his opinion, can only aggravate a problem of "overpopulation". M.'s teachings had a meaning. the influence on the adoption in England in 1834 of the notorious amendment to the law on the poor, which sharply worsened their situation. M.'s theory was welcomed by the ideologists of the bourgeoisie and at the same time was sharply criticized by progressive thinkers from different countries. In Russia, the 19th century Maltusianism was criticized by: V. A. Milyutin (see "Malthus and his opponents", in the book: Izb. prod., 1946), Chernyshevsky (see "Comments on the last four chapters of the first book of Mill. Explaining the meaning of Malthusian theory ", in the book: Elected economic production, vol. 3, part 1, 1948), Pisarev (see" Essays from the History of Labor ", in the book: Elected Philosophical and Socio-Political Articles, 1949, p. 184), Mendeleev (see Op. , t. 20, 1950, p. 562–77), K. Timiryazev (see, “Is it Similarly Imminent that Humanity Will Be Near Death”, in the book: Izb. Soch., Vol. 2, 1948, p. 283–317) and other Antinauch. reaction the nature of M.'s theory was exposed by Marx, who showed that the abstract law of the population does not exist, that of every society. the system is characterized by special, having histor. nature, laws of the population. Marx pointed to the epigonal character of M.'s theory (see "Theories of Surplus Value", part 2, 1957, p. 113). He spoke with contempt about the "deep baseness of thought", about M.'s "plagiarism" and believed that "the hatred of the English working class towards Malthus ... is justified; the people with a true instinct felt that there was nothing against them e to n and u, and the lawyer of the ruling classes, bought by his enemies, their shameless sycophant "(ibid., p. 110, 113). M.'s theory was widely used in the reaction. bourgeois. sociology (see. Neo-Malthusianism). Cit .: An investigation of the cause of the present high price of provisions, L., 1800; Observations on the effects of the corn laws, L., 1814; Principles of political economy considered with a view to their practical application, L., 1820; Definitions in political economy, L., 1827; A summary view of the principle of population, L., 1830. Lit .: Marx, K., Capital, vol. 1, M., 1955; him, The Theory of Surplus Value, part 2, M., 1957; Engels F., The Position of the Working Class in England, in the book: Marx, K. and Engels, F., Soch., 2nd ed., Vol. 2, M., 1955; Lenin V.I., The working class and neo-Malthusianism, Soch., 4th ed., Vol. 19; Vodovozov N.V., R.M., his life and scientific activity, St. Petersburg, 1895; Bibikov P.?., Life and works of M. (preface to the book: Malthus, Experience on the law of population ..., vol. 1, St. Petersburg, 1868); Popov A. Ya., Sovr. Malthusianism is misanthropy. the ideology of the imperialists, [M. ], 1953; Ricardo D., Articles on the agrarian question and criticisms of the book M., Soch., Vol. 3, M., 1955; Castro J. de, Geography of Famine, Trans. from English., M., 1954; Ozer D., Should people starve ?, M., 1959; Bonar J., Malthus and his work,, L.,; Vogt W., Road to survival,?. ?., 1948; Stassart J., Malthus et la population, 1957; W? Rgler H., Malthus als Kritiker der Klassik, Winterthur, 1957 (Diss.). L. Bagramov. Moscow.
Thomas Robert Malthus (1766–1834)entered the history of economic science through the development of several important issues:the theory of reproduction, the theory of value, as well as the law to which the dynamics of wages obey ("Iron law of wages").However, the book became the most famous for it - “An Essay on the Law of Population” (1798), where he formulated and justified this law. The book was released anonymously and caused "innumerable attacks" by the scientific community. Five years later, he released the second edition of his book, which, according to A. Marshall, was built "on such a large number of facts and on such a thorough selection of them that he can claim to be among the founders of historical and economic science."
Malthus substantiated the thesis that povertyis not the result of bad government, the improper distribution of wealth, etc., but a consequence of an objective reason - the action of the eternal natural lawaccording to which food production is growing in arithmetic proportions, and the population is growing in geometric proportions (doubling every twenty-five years). The lack of growth in food production T. Malthus associated with the action "The law of diminishing fertility."As a result of this law, the gap between the needs of society for food is permanently revealed. In other words, all the disasters of the unsecured population, poverty stem from the natural laws of nature and cannot be eliminated on the basis of the implementation of various projects for the reconstruction of society. T. Malthus believed that humanity faces an alternative:either it opposes the instinct of procreation, which is natural for all animals, voluntary abstinence (voluntary self-restraint), or population growth will be restrained by the destructive consequences of poverty - epidemics, diseases, wars, malnutrition, increased mortality. T. Malthus saw a way out of this situation in one thing - reducing population growth. The idea of \u200b\u200bMalthus prompted C. Darwin the idea of \u200b\u200bnatural selection in the animal world. However, in relation to human society, it, of course, was evaluated by the public as inhumane.
T. Malthus saw the resolution of the contradiction between too rapid population growth and slower growth in food production in reducing fertility based on either the observance of moral principles by people, voluntary self-restraint, or restrictive measures by the state.
Assessing the population theory of T. Malthus, one should pay attention to the fact that, firstly, as historical experience shows, with an increase in the material and cultural level of peoples, the birth rate decreases without the introduction of any restrictive measures or moral demands and, secondly, the technical progress in food production can significantly increase their growth rate.
Malthus (Thomas Malthus) Thomas Robert (born 1766 - died 1834) is an English priest, economist and demographer. In his work “Experience on the Law of Population” (1798; Russian translation, vols. 1-2, 1868), he formulated the law population , based, in his opinion, on the laws of nature, according to which the population tends to grow exponentially, and the means of subsistence can increase only in arithmetic progression. I recommended combating “absolute overpopulation” by regulating marriages and birth control. His followers now indicate that nature is "settling the scores" with humanity for its excessive reproduction by pollution and destruction of the environment, sometimes a catastrophic effect on the feedback mechanism between nature and man.
Philosophical Encyclopedic Dictionary. 2010.
Malthus (malthus) Thomas Robert (1766–1834), English economist, author of the first-ever scientific population theory. The ideas of Malthus formed the basis of the concepts of Malthusianism, in which unlimited population growth is seen as the cause of social disasters, political shocks and environmental disasters. Based on the supposedly existing pattern of population growth exponentially, and livelihoods in arithmetic, Malthus derived a statistical optimum for the population, at which “destructive factors” (wars, epidemics, famine, etc.) that correct population growth . Malthus first pointed out the possibility of negative consequences of population growth, drew attention to the problems of overpopulation, and put forward the idea of \u200b\u200bregulating the population.
Used materials: Modern illustrated encyclopedia. Geography. Volume 2, M-I, Rosman-Press, M., 2006.
Malthus Thomas Robert (1766-1834) - English thinker, economist, priest. He became widely known thanks to the essay "Experience on the Law of Population, or an exposition of the past and present operation of this law on the welfare of the human race." Malthus formulated a prehistoric law of population, according to which population growth occurs exponentially, while livelihoods increase in arithmetic progression, which creates the basis for class contradictions and social problems (poverty, hunger, crime, war). The cause of overpopulation and lack of livelihoods, according to Malthus, is rooted in the absolute and eternal laws of nature, as well as in the "excessive fertility" of the poor. Trying to substantiate the thesis that food production opportunities are limited, Malthus referred to the "law of diminishing soil fertility." He opposed government assistance to the poor, which, in his opinion, only exacerbates the problem of overpopulation.
Malthus's concept has evolved over time. Its latest modification was Neo-Malthusianism, which sees the tragedy of the future of mankind in the “global overpopulation crisis”, the result of which is already the destruction of the environment and the ecological crisis. In this regard, representatives of neo-Malthusianism (W. Thompson, G. Rajot, E. East, and others) call for a reduction in the birth rate in order to achieve an “optimum population”, for abandoning industrialization and transforming the economy of developing countries.
Kirilenko G.G., Shevtsov E.V. Brief philosophical dictionary. M. 2010, p. 206-207.
The most sharply class narrow-mindedness and callous egoism of the English ruling classes was manifested in the writings of Malthus, who, as Marx pointed out, drew "only conclusions that are" pleasant "(useful) to the aristocracy against the bourgeoisie and both of them against the proletariat" *. In 1817, Malthus released a new, expanded edition of his book "The Experience of Population" (first published in 1798), in which the poverty of the masses was explained by the alleged "eternal laws" of nature - excessive fertility among working people and limited natural resources. Based on this anti-scientific, hateful “doctrine,” Malthus justified the bloody war and sought to defame all projects of a better social structure. Malthusianism was included in the arsenal of reactionary ideology, although it was refuted by the whole course of human history and the data of science. It is used by reactionary ideologists to justify the anti-people policies of imperialist governments, to foment new conquest wars.
Notes
* K. Marx, Theories of Surplus Value, Part II, M. 1957, p. 111.
Cited from: World History. Volume VI M., 1959, p. 156.
Malthus (Thomas Malthus) Thomas Robert (February 17, 1766, Rockery, Surrey - December 29, 1834, Bath, Somersetshire) - English economist, population theorist. He graduated from Jesus College in Cambridge (1788), a parish priest, since 1805 professor of history and political economy at the East India Trading Company College in Hertford, Halesbury.
Contemporaries noted the wide interests of Malthus in various fields of scientific research, but his contribution to “political philosophy” (which included his studies of population, rents, profits; his development of terminology and standards of political economy; his study of the “influence of reforms and revolutions” on morals, morality and religion, defining the "character of the nation", etc.). The scientific and philosophical worldview of Malthus evolved on the basis of the distinctive English traditions of spiritual rationalism of the 17-18 centuries. (T. Hobbes, J. Locke, B. Mandeville, etc.), which received mass distribution in educated public circles. Malthus himself noted that the ideas of the great philosophers were firmly established in society thanks to the wide distribution of printing, political pamphlets, chronicle of parliamentary and other political discussions, especially intensified in the last decades of the 18th century. in connection with socio-political changes in North America and in France. Social utopias, ideas of political and social reorganization of human society in the future, focusing on the problems of “human rights”, “achieving universal prosperity”, scientific and social progress - all the main literature on these topics was conscientiously and critically analyzed by him. Malthus correlated his assessments of contemporary social and political problems with the works of D. Hume, A. Smith (especially in the field of the development of the teachings of the physiocrats), E. Burke (ideas, ideals and practice of the early stage of the French Revolution). Completely in the spirit of the 18th century. Malthus believed that all systematic social phenomena are based on natural laws of nature.
To justify the “law of population” (which later literally merged with his personality in both critical and apologetic works about him), Malthus used statistics and conclusions of his predecessors in this field of research: R. Wallace (a picture of the decline of a prosperous utopian society under the influence of population changes), Sir J. Stewart, J. Townsend and others. However, the essence, direction and purpose of the first anonymous publication of Malthus (“An essay on the law of population, how it affects the future is improved society, with comments from Mr. Godwin, Mr. Condorcet and other writers, London, 1798. The preface dated June 7, 1789) is deeper and more serious than indicated in the title. Malthus put forward two postulates: 1) food (more broadly: livelihoods) is necessary for a person; 2) the mutual attraction of the sexes to each other - is inevitable and does not weaken throughout the entire existence of mankind (Godwin doubted in the latter, on uncertain grounds). The growth of livelihoods (agricultural production) is slower (initially Malthus correlated the growth of livelihoods and population growth so that the former increases in arithmetic progression, while the latter increases in geometric progression; later it moved away from this rigid statement) than expanded reproduction of the population . Before the start of regular population censuses in the Western world in the 19th century. it did not seem self-evident. Many governments continued to encourage population growth. Utopians, on the other hand, thought that the problem of hyperpopulation would become relevant only after millennia. Malthus associated with these dynamic imbalances the inevitability of poverty, its increasing decomposing pressure on the life and culture of the masses (the growth of the welfare of the state was not at all directly proportional to the welfare of each of its inhabitants). Only the elimination of relative overpopulation (this term Malthus did not use, but he caught and described the essence of the phenomenon) in each state, in each geographical area, could interrupt the reproduction of poverty. He first investigated at the theoretical, methodological and practical levels the question of forms (destructive, i.e., the effects of natural processes and epidemics; preventive, i.e., ethnocultural measures to limit fertility) and means (conscious abstinence) of fertility optimization. Malthus' works allow us to speak of him as the forerunner of such scientific disciplines as ethnology, ecology, human geography, population statistics, and sociology. Relevant new data was included by Malthus in the extended reprints of his main work in 1803, 1806, 1807, 1817, 1826: “Essay on the Law of Population; or analysis of its past and present effects on human happiness; with a study of our thoughts on the future removal or mitigation of the evils that accompany it. "
In the field of political economy, Malthus also proved to be an original thinker, pointing out that this "science reveals a greater closeness to the sciences of morality and politics than to mathematics." His work “Principles of Political Economy” (1820) was destructively criticized by contemporaries (D. Ricardo), but in the 20th century. he is appreciated by J.M. Keynes, who included Malthus among the most prominent intellectual representatives of the English people. The works of Malthus were highly valued by J. Mill and J.S. Mill, C. Darwin, A. Wallace and others. Plagiarist, epigone, “priest,” the venal minister of the upper classes, and the misanthropist glorified Malthus in Marxist literature. “The abstract law of the population exists only for plants and animals, until man has historically invaded this area” (Marx K. Capital, vol. 1. - Marx K., Engels F. Soch., Vol. 23, p. 64, etc. .).
P.M. Kozhin
New philosophical encyclopedia. In four volumes. / Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Scientific Ed. tip: V.S. Stepin, A.A. Huseynov, G.Yu. Semigin. M., Thought, 2010, v. II, E - M, p. 486-487.
Read on:
Malthusinism, sociological doctrine.
Works:
Malthus T. Experience on the Law of Population. - In the book: Anthology of ecological classics. M., 1993, p. 3–134;
The Works of Thomas Robert Malthus, ed. by Ε. Α. Wrigley, D. Souden. L, 1986, v. 1-8.
Literature:
Riccardo D. Notes on Mr. Malthus's book, “The Beginnings of Political Economy, Considered from the Point of View of Their Practical Application” - In the book: Riccardo D. Soch., Vol. 3. M., 1955, p. 95-291;
Tugan-Baranovsky M. Essays on the recent history of political economy (Smith, Malthus, Ricardo, etc.). SPb., 1903, p. 62–75;
Winch D. Malthus. Oxf., Ν. Υ., 1987.
