Justice and Population

David Reisman ()
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David Reisman: University of Surrey

Chapter Chapter 6 in William Godwin and Thomas Robert Malthus, 2024, pp 119-135 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Godwin and Malthus were not the first in the field. This chapter shows that both borrowed extensively from a literature extending back to the Bible, Plato and Aristotle. The authorities on whom they most frequently drew were Petty, Cantillon, Davenant, Malynes, Franklin, Hume, Smith, Montesquieu, Wallace and Paley. Since they were writing in advance of the first census, they had to rely on the imperfect data of authors like Price and Howlett. This chapter traces out the influence. It establishes the nature of Godwin’s contribution to the theory of underpopulation, overpopulation, agricultural improvement and the subsistence wage. Godwin did not think numbers were excessive. He also believed that marriage would decline in favour of promiscuity which in his opinion led to fewer births. Public opinion would be strong enough to keep the numbers down. If population exceeds resources, the rich should volunteer to share their endowment with the poor. Malthus on population is discussed in Chaps. 8 and 11 .

Keywords: Marriage; Fertility; Agriculture; Earlier theories of demography; Social sanctions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-031-62113-0_6

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-62113-0_6

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