It's A Trap!
In his Essay on the Principle of Population, this cleric and demographer identified the potential limitations of 18th-century England’s increased agricultural production
Who is Thomas Malthus?
Endeavouring to maximize the pleasure of a society, Bentham espoused this pragmatic philosophy in his Theory of Legislation.
What is Utilitarianism?
Echoing Malthus, Darwin's most famous theory affirmed that organisms existed in a perpetual "struggle for existence"
What is natural selection?
Contrasting the optimism of the Enlightenment and its providential vision of humanity's progress, this mathematical model asserted that humans live in a perpetual cycle of abundance and shortage.
What is the Malthusian Trap?
Contrasting Kantian deontology, this ethical theory examines the consequences of actions to determine their morality.
What is consequentialism?
Predicated on the "survival of the fittest", this "scientific" theory applied the Darwinian laws of nature to humanity; justifying systematic programs of colonization, racism, and genocide.
What is Social Darwinism?
Identifying potential "checks" to population growth, Malthus observed that these life-shortening events or circumstances disproportionately affected the poor.
What are positive checks?
Attempting to implement an objective, quantifiable moral code, Bentham created this algorithm to determine the overall utility of any action.
What is the Felicific/Hedonic Calculus?
Detailing the horrific account of a coal miners’ strike in Northern France, this novel would ominously foreshadow the social revolutions of the mid-19th and early 20th centuries.
What is Germinal?