What idea,published in a book by Thomas Malthus, did Charles Darwin use?

Question

What idea,published in a book by Thomas Malthus, did Charles Darwin use?

Answer 1

It was Malthus's idea of man's "struggle for existence" that had an influence on Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution.

Other scientists related this idea to plants and animals, which helped to define a piece of the evolutionary puzzle. This struggle for existence of all creatures provides the catalyst by which natural selection produces the "survival of the fittest", a phrase coined by Herbert Spencer.

Darwin, in his book The Origin of Species, called his theory an application of the doctrines of Malthus in an area without the complicating factor of human intelligence. Darwin, a life-long admirer of Malthus, referred to Malthus as "that great philosopher" and wrote in his notebook that "Malthus on Man should be studied". Wallace called Malthus's essay "...the most important book I read..." and considered it "the most interesting coincidence" that reading Malthus led both himself and Darwin, independently, towards the idea of evolution.

Thanks to Malthus, Darwin recognized the significance of competition between populations of the same species, as well as the importance of competition between species. Malthusian thinking on population also explained how an incipient species could become a full-blown species in a very short time-frame.

Robert M. Young, Professor of Psychotherapy and Psychoanalytic Studies at Sheffield University in England, perhaps best highlighted the significance of Malthus's influence on Darwin in Darwin's Metaphor: Nature's Place in Victorian Culture in 1965.

If you want, you can find more info (including Darwin's original entry in his notebook r.e. Malthus) @ http://www.victorianweb.org/science/darw...

Whoops! I managed to mention Wallace briefly but...yep...I could easily have written one of my infamous book-long essays on this question, lol! Thanks for posting it.

Answer 2

WOW wait no more the other answers are excellent.  I would give both an "A" ,(I teach science!)

Answer 3

I'll just add that Wallace, who also hit on natural selection and who sparked Darwin to publish by sending him a letter on the matter, was also inspired by Malthus.