An Essay on the Principle of Population
Thomas Robert Malthus published An Essay on the Principle of Population anonymously in 1798, and this is the text of that first edition. A young clergyman, he wrote it in reply to the hopes of William Godwin and the Marquis de Condorcet for the indefinite improvement of society. His argument is stark: population, when unchecked, increases geometrically, while the means of subsistence can increase only arithmetically, so that misery and vice must always keep humanity in check. The last chapters reflect on the place of evil in a world governed by God. The essay shaped economics, provoked a long controversy and later helped Darwin to the idea of natural selection. The full text is available to read online in your browser on Vinteuil, and the first chapter is free.
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