Historical Influences on Darwin
Thomas Malthus
1. Thomas Malthus had a large influence on Darwin and the theory on natural selection. Thomas Malthus was a political economist who viewed living conditions as a large part of man's survival. Malthus believed that without the regulation of family sizes, famine and poverty would always exist and eventually overrun man. This relates to Darwin's theory on natural selection in a positive way because both ideas coincide with each other and are large factors in the process of natural selection.
2. Malthus believed in the critical point of the growth of population against the natural food supply. His main idea was that the growth of man would outrun the food supply and that eventually man would be stricken with famine and poverty. His thoughts on evolution included the ideas of humans only evolving if possible throughout the world. If there are enough resources and supplies then the human race could evolve. However, without the proper resources and supplies, the human race could not evolve. Darwin believed that the reproduction of humans was not as large of a factor as Malthus believed it to be. This ultimately aided Darwin in his theory and became a critical factor in determining his theory on natural selection.
3. Yes, Darwin could have developed his theory on evolution without the thoughts from Malthus because the thought of food supply and human reproduction rates does not necessarily affect the process that eventually became natural selection.
4. The church influenced his publication because the church believed that Darwin had neglected the ways of the church. Prior to writing the book, Darwin had quit the idea of becoming a clergyman for the church.
