CHAPTER 23
Malthus and Owen:
Gloom and Doom vs. Optimism
Thomas Malthus (1766-1834)
Thomas Malthus was bom in Surrey, England in 1766. He
was educated at Cambridge University with the intention of
entering the ministry, which he did in 1798. For several years he
served as a curate in a small parish in Surrey, but in 1805 he was
appointed to teach political economy and history at the college
in Haileybury. For thirty years he taught there and wrote two
major works. However, his first and most important exposition
of his economic philosophy, An Essay on the Principle of
Population as it Affects the Future Improvement o f Society was
published in 1798. It is this work for which he is most famous.
His Essay on Population was written specifically as a rebuttal
to the theories of William Godwin and M. Condorcet, both of
whom wrote of a future devoid of the social ills that permeated
the society of their day. In general, Malthus’ essay flew in the
face of contemporary economic theory which presented an
optimistic view of the future of society. Malthus contended that
life on earth could not and would not be perfected because of
man’s natural and instinctive urge to reproduce which would
result in a continual assault upon his means of subsistence.
Malthusian theory begins with two premises. First, that food
is necessary: every individual needs a sufficient amount of
nourishment for survival. Second, that the human sex drive is the
strongest passion. Couple these facts with what he sees as a
necessary mathematical equation and he comes to a terribly
pessimistic conclusion. Because of his views, Malthus more
than any other person, caused economics to become known as
the “dismal science.”
Malthus’ contention then, is that if men tend to procreate
because of this very strong sexual urge, population will increase
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