50 pages • 1 hour read
Thomas MalthusAn Essay on the Principle of Population
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1798A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Key Figures
Thomas Malthus (1766-1834)
Thomas Robert Malthus is an English philosopher and political economist infamous for his theory on the growth of population. He graduated with honors from Jesus College at the University of Cambridge in 1791 and excelled in mathematics. He was good friends with economist David Hume—whom he credited for inspiration in his work—and Genevan philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
In 1805, two years after publishing the revised edition of his Essay on the Principle of Population, he began work at the East India Company College in Hertfordshire as a professor of history and political economy. Malthus is a founding member of the Political Economy Club created by economist James Mill in 1821. However, a debate with Scottish economist John Ramsay McCulloch cost Malthus his reputation in 1827. Although some still adhered to Malthus’s theories, he had largely lost credibility by the end of his life. Malthus died of heart disease in 1834.
Adam Smith (1723-1790)
Adam Smith is a Scottish economist widely regarded as the father of Capitalism. His magnum opus, titled An inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (also abbreviated as The Wealth of Nations), was published in 1776 and is a fundamental text in the field of classical economics. It provided the first comprehensive theoretical framework expounding the nature of wealth and demonstrating how nations accumulate them over time.
Although Smith was only mentioned a few times in Malthus’s Essay on the Principle of Population, it is evident his work has deeply influenced Malthus’s outlook. In the preface and the introduction, Smith and Malthus’s friend David Hume are credited for their brilliant writing and thoughtful philosophy. Smith features most prominently in Chapter 16, where Malthus points out Smith might have erred in assuming that the accumulation of wealth automatically ameliorates the condition of the working class.
William Godwin (1756-1836)
William Godwin is a political philosopher and novelist most famous for his publication, Enquiry Concerning Political Justice and Its Influence on Morals and Happiness (1793), which is widely considered as the first modern text defending anarchism. His writing was published during the French Revolution but unlike many others did not directly comment on contemporary events.
In Enquiry, Godwin imagines a world free of oppressive political institutions in which monogamy would no longer be practiced. Instead, every individual, as rational beings, would organize into a direct democracy based on fairness. Reason will compel the sharing of resources, which, by virtue of this equitable distribution, would be abundant. People would pursue intellectual improvement instead of carnal pleasures, thus lowering birth rate and preventing unnecessary attachments.
Malthus dedicates six chapters to refuting Godwin’s anarchic political theory. He finds fault in Godwin’s approach to philosophy, which is speculative rather than based in facts. Malthus believes the premises upon which Godwin’s anarchic society is founded are unsound. Malthus finds fault in the idea that resources can ever be abundant; he declares it is unrealistic that intellectual pursuits will encourage abstinence; he refutes the notion that people are rational beings; and he disagrees that people’s actions are always guided by reason. Although Godwin’s works are only brought up to be criticized, Malthus softens this by declaring his scrutiny is an homage to the writings of brilliant men.
Marquis de Condorcet (1743-1794)
Marquis de Condorcet, also known as Nicolas de Caritat, is a French philosopher famous for his support of free education, women’s suffrage, and racial equality. He lived through the French Revolution, and his philosophy aligns with classic 18th century Enlightenment ideals. Condorcet is part of the American Philosophical Society and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, where his ideas are celebrated. However, in English-speaking circles, he is often critiqued for his radical stance.
He figures in Chapters 8 and 9 of Malthus’s Essay and is portrayed as an idealist. His philosophy, laid out in his essay Esquisse d’un Tableau Historique des Progrès de l’Esprit Humain, paints an optimistic picture of the future. Condorcet principally argues that the expansion of scientific knowledge will push humanity on the path of justice and individual freedom. Furthermore, with time, innate human capabilities can be expanded and refined, which will in turn further the progress of science. Condorcet also defends the idea of evil traits as socially acquired rather than innate. His Esquisse is often considered one of the most influential works on human progress.
However, Condorcet’s belief in an equal and infinitely perfectible society of reasonable people is criticized as being wholly separate from reality by Malthus. He argues in Chapter 8 that Condorcet’s system is based on fanciful wishes and such notions of progress are impossible to replicate in the real world. Instead, Malthus proposes a system of oscillation between misery and happiness, which is entirely dictated by the ratio of population to the production of food required for their sustenance. In sum, Condorcet’s belief in poor relief and human progress are especially grating for Malthus, whose population growth theory paints a bleak future for social development. Ultimately, Malthus finds Condorcet’s writing fanciful and unscientific but allows that his work is yet worthy of critique.
