An Essay on the Principle of Population

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An Essay on the Principle of Population is an influential 1798 work of political economy and demography arguing that population growth tends to outpace food production, leading to inevitable checks such as famine, disease, and war.

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Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf book
treatise
work of demography
work of political economy
argument population growth is limited by checks such as famine, disease, and war
author Thomas Malthus
surface form: Thomas Robert Malthus
centralThesis population tends to increase faster than the means of subsistence
unchecked population growth is exponential while food production grows at best arithmetically
countryOfOrigin United Kingdom
criticizes Marquis de Condorcet
William Godwin
describes positive checks on population such as disease
positive checks on population such as famine
positive checks on population such as war
field demography
economics
firstEditionPublisher J. Johnson
followedBy An Essay on the Principle of Population self-linksurface differs
surface form: An Essay on the Principle of Population, 2nd edition (1803, greatly expanded)
fullTitle An Essay on the Principle of Population self-linksurface differs
surface form: An Essay on the Principle of Population, as it affects the future improvement of society, with remarks on the speculations of Mr. Godwin, M. Condorcet, and other writers
genre non-fiction
hasImpactOn debates on overpopulation
environmental thought
social policy debates
historicalContext Industrial Revolution
late 18th century Britain
influenced Alfred Russel Wallace
Charles Darwin
classical economics
demographic studies
evolutionary theory
introducesConcept Malthusian theory of population
keyConcept Malthusian catastrophe
surface form: Malthusian trap

checks on population
geometric versus arithmetic growth
subsistence level of wages
literaryPeriod 18th century
notableFor being one of the foundational texts of population economics
influencing the development of the concept of natural selection
originalLanguage English
placeOfPublication London, England
surface form: London
proposes preventive checks on population such as moral restraint
publicationYear 1798
shortTitle An Essay on the Principle of Population self-linksurface differs
surface form: Essay on the Principle of Population
subject demography
food supply
political economy
population theory
scarcity

Referenced by (12)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Malthusian catastrophe describedIn An Essay on the Principle of Population
An Essay on the Principle of Population followedBy An Essay on the Principle of Population self-linksurface differs
this entity surface form: An Essay on the Principle of Population, 2nd edition (1803, greatly expanded)
An Essay on the Principle of Population fullTitle An Essay on the Principle of Population self-linksurface differs
this entity surface form: An Essay on the Principle of Population, as it affects the future improvement of society, with remarks on the speculations of Mr. Godwin, M. Condorcet, and other writers
classical economics hasKeyText An Essay on the Principle of Population
Richard Price notableWork An Essay on the Principle of Population
this entity surface form: Essay on the Population of England
Thomas Malthus notableWork An Essay on the Principle of Population
Thomas notableWork An Essay on the Principle of Population
subject surface form: Thomas Malthus
Harriet Eckersall notableWork An Essay on the Principle of Population
subject surface form: Thomas Robert Malthus
An Inquiry into the Nature and Progress of Rent relatedTo An Essay on the Principle of Population
this entity surface form: Essay on the Principle of Population
Principles of Political Economy relatedWork An Essay on the Principle of Population
the book "The Population Bomb" relatedWork An Essay on the Principle of Population
subject surface form: The Population Bomb
this entity surface form: Malthusian theory of population
An Essay on the Principle of Population shortTitle An Essay on the Principle of Population self-linksurface differs
this entity surface form: Essay on the Principle of Population