Malthus Of Population Thought And British Society

An Essay on the Principle of Population by T.R.Malthus was first published in 1798. At this time, the impact of the French Revolution in the United Kingdom was on the ebb, conservatives gradually prevailed. The Essay was in fact a polemical pamphlet which was composed to refute the utopia of William Godwin and the optimism of the French philosopher Marquis de Condorcet. The Essay is a work against the radicalism and the agitation for reform.Malthus claimed in the Essay that there was a constant tendency for population to outgrow the produce of food, so the poor would be permanently in existence and there was no way to eliminate poverty. However, the postponement of marriage will relieve the poor from misery to a certain extent. In Malthus' view, on the one hand the principle of population will impede progress and the realization of the design of a equalitarian society, on the other hand it acts as a stimulus to force the poor to work hard and live a sober life. At a first look on his Essay, we may assume Malthus was a pessimist who denied the possibility of success, but with an watchful survey we will find his real goal was a gradual progress of society.Malthus framed his principle of population into a simple mathematical mode. He treated the growth of population mainly as biological instead of social phenomenon. He applied the principle of population to the survey of social problems such as the poor laws, the corn law and emigration. The opponents of Malthus blamed him for his ignorance and prejudice of laborers and also pointed out the mistakes and limits of his population theory.