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托马斯·马尔萨斯:人口论·摘录 44

托马斯·马尔萨斯《人口论》· An Essay on the Principle of Population · 投资

A man of liberal education, but with an income only just sufficient to enable him to associate in the rank of gentlemen, must feel absolutely certain that if he marries and has a family he shall be obliged, if he mixes at all in society, to rank himself with moderate farmers and the lower class of tradesmen. The woman that a man of education would naturally make the object of his choice would be one brought up in the same tastes and sentiments with himself and used to the familiar intercourse of a society totally different from that to which she must be reduced by marriage. Can a man consent to place the object of his affection in a situation so discordant, probably, to her tastes and inclinations? Two or three steps of descent in society, particularly at this round of the ladder, where education ends and ignorance begins, will not be considered by the generality of people as a fancied and chimerical, but a real and essential evil. If society be held desirable, it surely must be free, equal, and reciprocal society, where benefits are conferred as well as received, and not such as the dependent finds with his patron or the poor with the rich.

出处: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4239
定位:Excerpt 44 · 核对日期:2026-10-19 · 核验:短摘录

白话

一个受过良好教育、收入刚够混迹绅士阶层的人,很清楚一旦结婚生子,若还想社交,就得把自己降到普通农夫或小商人的层次。他自然会选一个趣味相投、习惯与自身社交圈相近的女子,但婚后她可能被迫进入完全不同的环境。他怎能忍心让心爱的人陷入与她品味不合的处境?在社会阶梯上,尤其在教育结束、无知开始的交界处,下降两三级不是幻想中的小恶,而是真实而重大的不幸。马尔萨斯强调,理想的社会交往应是自由、平等、互惠的,而不是依赖者与恩主、穷人与富人之间那种不平等的关系。这解释了为何许多体面人因怕阶层下滑而不敢早婚。

上下文

马尔萨斯《人口论》分析英国中上层知识分子因婚姻导致社会地位下降的顾虑,涉及阶层、教育与社交平等。

今日一问

今天婚姻中的“阶层下滑”顾虑是否依然存在?我们能否建立更平等互惠的伴侣关系来缓解这种焦虑?

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