Malthus' Influence on Darwin

Thomas Malthus, according to this resource, was an economist who hypothesized that the worsening living conditions of the 19th century (observable, for instance, in congested urban areas like London) were connected to three key factors : over-reproduction, a shortage of resources, and the lower classes' lack of functionality. The first two factors were influential in the realm of science: Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, who discovered natural selection almost simultaneously, were able to utilize the economic principles in the context of the natural world--and in such a way: "when population size is limited by resource availability, there is constant competition." (Jurmain, Kilgore, Trevathan, and Ciochon, 32) Science was thus able to further Malthus' logic even beyond his own musings (indeed Malthus attributed the poverty he was observing to God, who he thought was applying a check to human idleness) (again, UCMP page on Malthus). His contribution to science, perhaps accidental, provided a framework of thought that the Darwin utilized and further developed to formulate the ideas behind his hypothesis of natural selection.

As previously stated, Malthus had a positive effect on Darwin's formulation of ideas. Following, are the bullet points that Malthus had a positive effect on: 1. All organisms have the potential of reproducing exponentially. 2. What is preventing organisms from reproducing at their potential? (lack of sufficient resources) 3. Resources are limited. These first three principles, upon which all of the other principles following are based, are rooted in Malthus' work. The first point, though not cited directly in any of the two resources I have here on Malthus, in principle must have been the initial question in his mind. Theoretically, animals can produced exponentially--when humans begin to reproduce in a theoretically exponential fashion, then "misery" occurs. He explained this further using the structure of the second and third principles. These latter points can be traced to the Malthus' principle that: "...in nature, there is a tendency for animal populations to increase in size, but the amount of resources (food and water) remains relatively the same. Therefore population size is held in check by resource availability." (Jurmain, Kilgore, Trevathan, and Ciochon, 31) 

I don't think it's possible to determine whether or not Darwin would have come up with natural selection had Malthus nor anyone else not delivered their ideas to the world. Perhaps if all five of the people listed (Lamarck, Cuvier, Lyell, Malthus, and Wallace) had not contributed to science, then Darwin may have not come up with or published his work on natural selection as soon, nor perhaps ever in his lifetime. Perhaps someone else would have formulated his hypothesis, during or after his lifetime. It is impossible to tell. This being said, Malthus' principles are the foundation upon which Darwin (and Wallace) built his hypothesis for natural selection. Without his work, it may have taken Darwin a significantly longer amount of time to arrive at his conclusions. We will never know. 

As usually happens with new ideas, in academics and the arts as well as science, the appearance of natural selection as a hypothesis and later as a theory was polarizing in many ways, with the church at one end and science at the other. No scientific theory had been so polarizing since Galileo. The rift between the Church and the theory of evolution can be traced back to the bluntly atheist supporters of Lamarck. Darwin hesitated to publish his findings not only because he felt he lacked sufficient evidence, but also because he feared the reactions of his wife and colleagues, who were all attached to the worldview of the time in one way or another. What finally forced Darwin to publish was the competition with Wallace (whom he thought would receive the credit for discovering the theory). (Jurmain, Kilgore, Trevathan, and Ciochon, 34-38) In a way, this illustrates, in a historical and microcosmic way, the kind of competition for resources animals experience: if recognition and fame were the resource, Wallace and Darwin were competing for it, and Darwin won out. 

Works Cited

"Thomas Malthus (1766-1834)." Thomas Malthus. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 July 2013.

Jurmain; Kilgore; Trevathan; Ciochon (2013-02-12). Introduction to Physical Anthropology, 2013-2014 Edition (Page 31). Wadsworth Publishing. Kindle Edition.