The History of Ruthlessness, from Malthus to Darwin

Part 1· ~6 min read

As we already made clear, Darwin's views in The Origin of Species were most influenced by the British economist and demographer Thomas Robert Malthus.

Part 2· ~2 min read

Malthus's real source of inspiration for his Essay was a story about goats on a Southeast Pacific island, said to have been left there by Juan Fernandez, a Spanish sailor. According to the tale, these goats…

Part 3· ~4 min read

Malthus's theory received support from various circles at the time, and also constituted the foundation of a number of perverted ideologies and movements in the following century. Yet it rests on no scientific…

Part 4· ~2 min read

In his autobiography, Darwin wrote:

Part 5· ~3 min read

Although Malthus and Darwin's views lacked any scientific foundation, they received wide support. We need to seek the reason for this in the period in which they both lived, which was post-Industrial Revolution…