投资 · 西方古典
托马斯·马尔萨斯:人口论·摘录 107
托马斯·马尔萨斯《人口论》· An Essay on the Principle of Population · 投资
Mr Godwin considers marriage as a fraud and a monopoly. Let us suppose the commerce of the sexes established upon principles of the most perfect freedom. Mr Godwin does not think himself that this freedom would lead to a promiscuous intercourse, and in this I perfectly agree with him. The love of variety is a vicious, corrupt, and unnatural taste and could not prevail in any great degree in a simple and virtuous state of society. Each man would probably select himself a partner, to whom he would adhere as long as that adherence continued to be the choice of both parties. It would be of little consequence, according to Mr Godwin, how many children a woman had or to whom they belonged. Provisions and assistance would spontaneously flow from the quarter in which they abounded, to the quarter that was deficient. (See Bk VIII, ch. 8; in the third edition, Vol II, p. 512) And every man would be ready to furnish instruction to the rising generation according to his capacity.
出处:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4239
定位:Excerpt 107 · 核对日期:2026-10-19 · 核验:短摘录
白话
戈德温认为婚姻是一种欺诈和垄断,主张两性结合完全自由。马尔萨斯假设这种自由实现,并同意戈德温的看法:自由不会导致乱交,因为追求多样是腐化的品味,在纯朴社会不会盛行。每个人会选一个伴侣,只要双方愿意就保持关系。戈德温认为,女人生多少孩子、孩子归谁都不重要,物资会从富余处自动流向匮乏处,人人按能力教育下一代。但马尔萨斯暗示,这种设想忽略了人口增长带来的现实压力,孩子增多会打破物资自动平衡。
上下文
马尔萨斯转述戈德温关于婚姻和两性关系的激进主张,并准备从人口角度反驳其可行性。
今日一问
如果关系完全自由,你认为人口和抚养责任会自动得到妥善安排吗?
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