E. Dupreel on Population and Progress

Abstract

Noting that the causes for declines in birth rates among developed countries are now well established the author discusses the consequences of these declines. The author argues that the conclusion of many current thinkers that an increase in the number of people is 1 of the prime causes of social development civilization and progress--indeed the original and universal cause--is not a new idea but may be found in diverse works from the previous century and has parallels in the works of Malthus and the Social Darwinists. What is now necessary is a detailed inquiry into the specific proximate effects of demographic phenomena viewed as antecedents and examination of the processes of these relationships. If changes in population affect society not only in its quantifiable aspects but if growth for example brings about qualitative changes influencing individual minds and social forms the indefinitely repeated and combined hidden mechanisms behind this remarkable link must be examined; in that sense the problem may be seen to be new.