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James's working notes from Western Civ class

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    Essay on the Principle of Population

    Written by MalthusMalthus
    Malthus
    Wrote [[Malthus, Essay on the Principle of Population]]

    ![[Malthus, Essay on the Principle of Population#Summary]]

    Discussion Notes

    • What is the nature of man?
      • to eat & reproduce (pg 12)
      • very mechanicalistic
    • What would it mean for man to be perfect?
    • utopia is impossible
      • problem w/ society is not man's nature; it's a a mathematical prob of food production/population
      • men can voluntarily control their reproduction (economics, or selfish reasons)
        • is this selfishness or participating in society
    • people used to feel the obligation to marry & have children
      • having children was the most important thing in Bible times
    • English Poor LawsEnglish Poor Laws
      English Poor Laws

      Catholic church had structures for taking care of poor; when Protestants took over, they ended many of those; led to the Poor Laws

      Note: w/ each act, the size of the system of relief & the cost of the system increased;
      Also, w/ each act the administration of the system of relief become more centralized, less locally controlled

      1601 Elizabethan Poor Law
      - Church of England no longer taking care of poor
      - Types of poor: able bodied, idle, impotent
      - Law was based on...       led to people staying poor

      • "The poor laws of England tend to depress the general condition of the poor in these two ways. Their first obvious tendency is to increase population w/o increasing the food for its support. A poor man may marry w/ little or no prospect of being able to support a family in independence [creating more children]. They may be said therefore in some measure to create the poor which they maintain; and as the provisions of the country must, in consequence of the increased population, be distributed to every man in smaller proportions, be distributed to every man in smaller proportions, it is evident that the labour of those who are not supported by parish assistance will purchase a smaller quantity of provisions than before, and consequently, more of them must be driven to ask for support." (Ch 5, pg 39)

    • wanted to abolish poor laws
      • "dependent poverty ought to be held disgraceful" (Ch 5, pg 40)
        • is it better to die w/ dignity than to lose one's honor? (see Isabelle from Shakespeare, Measure for MeasureShakespeare, Measure for Measure
          Shakespeare, Measure for Measure
          Author: [[Shakespeare]]

          Summary
          The Duke, noticing that he had not been executing the law well enough, temporarily gave over his power to his trusted man Angelo, telling him that he was going on a long trip. In reality, the Duke went undercover in his own land as a friar. Angelo immediately began prosecuting the law, bringing a man Claudio to jail for adultery. As punishment, Claudio was to be hung. Claudio's sister Isabella went to Angelo and asked him for a...          )
    • does Malthus care about people?
      • seems to prefers the benefit of society over the benefit of individuals
    • should there be a safety net for poor people?
      • temporary? / permanent?
      • run by the church?
        • but not everyone goes to church

    Summary

    Malthus set about explaining the dynamics of population and gave himself as premises that 1) food is necessary to man's existence; and 2) men and women are naturally attracted to each other. Then he says that the children that people can have is naturally limited to the available food, and when there is excess food, people are encouraged to have more children. This is especially important, because population has the potential to grow exponentially, while food production can only grow arithmetically. To counteract this, men have to either move away to find greener pastures, or let people starve. Unfortunately, it is generally the poorest of the people who suffer the most from the food shortages. At the end, Malthus took these principles and examined how they work in society at various stages of development: the savages, the shepherds, and the modern civilized peoples.