Talk:Thomas Malthus
From Academic Kids
Hi, I'm new to the wiki, so I don't feel comfortable changing it, but a couple of things: one, there is a webpage by a Malthus family member that notes the birthday is actually Feb 13th, and that he went by his middle name, Robert (so "Thomas Malthus" is not an appropriate shortening). See http://homepages.caverock.net.nz/~kh/bobperson.html.
- Thomas Malthus is an appropriate shortening for the title for the reason that Wikipedia goes by the most-common-name convention. We can give his full name in the introductory sentence to the article. —Lowellian (talk)[[]] 03:22, Dec 13, 2004 (UTC)
- Yes, but in that case the page should be "Robert Malthus", which is how his family and college (cf, Jesus College history) refer to him. The fact that a large number of people are ignorant and call him by the wrong name (it's Robert's right to choose how he is called, isn't it?) does not mean the Wikipedia should perpetuate that ignorance. It seems to me that the best compromise is to leave the page as Thomas Robert Malthus. GJeffery 07:53, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)
- That's what google says: 51,400 for "thomas malthus", about 21,900 for "robert malthus", about 17,800 for "thomas robert malthus"; a wikipedia search shows 58 for "thomas malthus", and less than ten for the other two variants. So Thomas Malthus is definetly the most common name. But the 'it's his choice' argument isn't void. So I'd say we should move this article to the full name Thomas Robert Malthus and make the other two (or more, think Malthus, Robert...) versions redirects... Huerlisi 20:58, 21 Dec 2004 (UTC)
I found an interesting book in a used book shop written by Malthus, pity I didn't buy it. It was a travel description of his journey to Norway. Very interesting read! The preface in that book speculates that Malthus may have been inspired in his larger ideas by seeing scandinavian peasants, although very poor and living off much poorer land than the english, had a better standard of living - and explaining this with the low population.
It's also possible that he made his journey after writing his most influential book. Sorry if I mix this up, I should have bought that book!
It's good to see that Malthus' contributions to demography, population modelling, economics, and political science are ALL acknowledged here.
I have a concern about this page, concerning this passage: "Here, he developed a theory of demand supply mismatches which he called gluts. Considered ridiculous at the time, his theory was later confirmed by the Great Depression and works of John Maynard Keynes." Hasn't Keynes' work been seriously debunked? How can he be cited as "proving" Malthus' gluts theory (of which I am unfamiliar, by the way). Also, isn't Malthus sort of a laughing-stock for his false prediction of catastrophe? Why is this noted on the Malthusian Catastrophe page, and not in his biography?
According to fr article, thomas malthus was opposed to the Speenhamland system. If anyone is willing to give more details about that ... :) Hashar 11:38, 30 Nov 2003 (UTC)
Biography
I'm currently crawling the web to check some biography facts. There doesn't seem to be consensus on when and where he was born, respectivly when and where he died :-( Huerlisi 20:58, 21 Dec 2004 (UTC)
Here are some sources:
Wikipedia article before my changes
I didn't find any sources for the February 14 birthday...
- Born: February 14, 1766
- Died: December 23, 1834
atheism.about.com (http://atheism.about.com/library/glossary/political/bldef_malthusthomas.htm?terms=cal)
Very brief, but the only source I found stating all the facts... The 'February 2' (possibly 12, forgotten a '1') doesn't make it very thrustworthy though...
- Born: February 2, 1766 in Dorking, Surrey (south of London)
- Died: December 23, 1834 in Haileybury, Hertfordshire
Family Malthus Homepage (http://homepages.caverock.net.nz/~kh/bobperson.html)
This Page has a quite extensive biography and contains references to its sources. Seems trustworthy... But the dates just don't fit with what everybody else says...
- Born: February 13, 1766
- Died: December 29, 1834
BBC Historic Figures (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/malthus_thomas.shtml)
Well, I normaly trust BBC :-)
- Born: February 1766 in Rookery, Surrey
- Died: December 23, 1834
BookRags Premium Biographies (http://www.bookrags.com/biography/thomas-robert-malthus)
They about themselves: BookRags Premium Biographies are the most complete biographical resource available. Each biography is written by a biographical expert, professional educator, or scholar of the individual...
- Born: 1766
- Died: December 23, 1834, in Haileybury
Microsoft Encarta (http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761562050/Thomas_Malthus.html)
- Born: 1766, near Guildford, Surrey
- Died: 1834
So I'm using the following for now. Just change if you find other, more trusted sources (don't forget to mention them here :-)
- Born: February, 1766 in Surrey
- Died: December 23, 1834 in Haileybury
Malthusian Drill
I just wanted to post a side note: In Huxley's "Brave New World" the women of the new world practice their 'Mathusian Drill' - their form of contraception. It's an interesting note to see the economist's name in such a novel.
