Thomas Malthus and Nikolai Chernyshevskii: Struggle for Existence or Mutual Help?

Abstract

This paper compares and contrasts dystopian counterfactual thought experiments in Malthus' Essay on the Principle of Population (1798) on the one hand and the utopian vision of the future in Chernyshevskii's novel What Is to Be Done? (1863) on the other hand. Chernyshevskii's future forecast appears in Vera Pavlovna's fourth dream (Chapter XVI) and arguably constitutes Russia's answer to Malthusian theories, an interpretation that is supported by the novelist's critical writings. Malthus' vision of the future is based on the assumption that a constant struggle for existence between individuals is inevitable within human society: he believes that there will always be a shortage of food and other natural resources, since population grows much faster than food production. With reference to closely related theories by Darwin and Kropotkin, the present article argues that for Černyševskij, in contrast, one of the most fundamental principles underlying interpersonal relations is mutual help, which leads to cooperation and teamwork for the sake of the common good. The method used for this analysis is interdisciplinary, combining critical tools from the disciplines of literary studies and philosophy. While numerous studies have been devoted to Vera Pavlovna's fourth dream, the novelty of the above approach lies in reappraising this famous chapter by reading it as a thought experiment. This experiment plays through the Malthusian scenario of population growth and results in a completely different outcome. Such an analysis sheds light both on Chernyshevskii's model of the future and on the epistemic value of literary thought experiments within a wider cultural and scholarly context.