Notice Board

Speaker:  Pamela Lindsay (Philosophy Student)
Location:  D-633 (University Hall)

In An Essay on the Principle of Population, first published in   1798, the Reverend Thomas Robert Malthus makes the now infamous mathematical calculation that food production tends to increase arithmetically, while population tends to increase geometrically –- at a faster rate. Thus, without ‘checks’, whether natural or artificial, population tends to outrun its food   source -- a dire prediction known today as a “Malthusian Catastrophe”.  And with the global population currently clocking in at more than 7.2 billion, Malthus’ concern with   sustainability and resources looms over contemporary consciousness like an ominous shadow.

But Malthus was not a pessimist about the human condition as is commonly portrayed. In fact, he believed that resources both can and should be managed to grow with the population. Malthus remains an important figure in political-economic theory and population studies, and his portrayal of the struggle for survival was an important influence on the thought of Darwin and Wallace. What is broadly ignored, however, is the theological underpinnings and motivation for his work. Unable to separate his research and conclusions from his religious beliefs, Malthus manipulates statistics and ‘science’ to support his conviction that  “it is the intention of the Creator that the earth should be replenished; but certainly with a healthy, virtuous, and happy population, not an unhealthy, vicious, and miserable one.”