Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Philosopher, 1712 - 1778

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born on June 28, 1712 in Geneva, Switzerland. His mother died shortly after his birth. When Rousseau was 10 his father fled from Geneva to avoid imprisonment for a minor offense, leaving young Jean-Jacques to be raised by an aunt and uncle. Rousseau left Geneva at 16, wandering from place to place, finally moving to Paris in 1742. He earned his living during this period, working as everything from footman to assistant to an ambassador.

The book An Essay on the Principle of Population was first published anonymously in 1798 through J. Johnson (London).[1] The author was soon identified as The ReverendThomas Robert Malthus. While it was not the first book on population, it has been acknowledged as the most influential work of its era. Its 6th Edition was independently cited as a key influence by both Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace in developing the theory of natural selection. A key portion of the book was dedicated to what is now known as Malthus' Iron Law of Population this name itself is retrospective, based on the iron law of wages, which is the reformulation of Malthus' position by Ferdinand Lassalle, who in turn derived the name from Goethe's "great, eternal iron laws" in Das Gttliche.[2] This theory suggested that growing population rates would contribute to a rising supply of labour that would inevitably lower wages. In essence, Malthus feared that continued population growth would lend itself to poverty.

The Iron Law of Wages, is a proposed law of economics that asserts that real wages always tend, in the long run, toward the minimum wage necessary to sustain the life of the worker. The theory was first named by Ferdinand Lassalle in the mid-nineteenth century. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engelsattribute the doctrine to Lassalle (notably in Critique of the Gotha Programme (1875), Marx), crediting the idea to Thomas Malthus in his work, An Essay on the Principle of Population, and the terminology to Goethe's "great, eternal iron laws" in Das Gttliche

William Godwin (3 March 1756 7 April 1836) was aBritish journalist, political

philosopher and novelist. He is considered one of the first exponents of utilitarianism, and the first modern proponent of anarchism.[1] Godwin is most famous for two books that he published within the space of a year: An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, an attack on political institutions, and Things as They Are; or, The Adventures of Caleb Williams, which attacks aristocratic privilege, but also is virtually the first mystery novel. Based on the success of both, Godwin featured prominently in the radical circles ofLondon in the 1790s. In the ensuing conservativereaction to British radicalism, Godwin was attacked, in part because of his marriage to the pioneering feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft in 1797 and his candid biography of her after her death; their child, Mary Godwin (later Mary Shelley) would go on to authorFrankenstein and marry the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Godwin wrote prolifically in the genres of novels, history and demography throughout his lifetime. With his second wife, Mary Jane Clairmont, he wrote children's primers on Biblical and classical history, which he published along with such works as Charlesand Mary Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare. Using the pseudonym Edward Baldwin, he wrote a variety of books for children, including a version of Jack and the Beanstalk.[2] He also has had considerable influence on British literature and literary culture. Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, marquis de Condorcet ([mai ntwan nikola d kaita kd se]; 17 September 1743 28 March 1794), known asNicolas de Condorcet, was a French philosopher,mathematician, and early political scientist whoseCondorcet method in voting tally selects the candidate who would beat each of the other candidates in a run-off election. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he advocated a liberal economy, free and equal public education, constitutionalism, and equal rights for women and people of all races. His ideas and writings were said to embody the ideals of the Age of Enlightenment andrationalism, and remain influential to this day. He died a mysterious death in prison after a period of being a fugitive from French Revolutionary authorities.

William Godwin had published his utopian work Enquiry concerning Political Justice in 1793, with later editions in 1796 and 1798. Also, Of Avarice and Profusion (1797). Malthus' remarks on Godwin's work spans chapters 10 through 15 (inclusive) out of nineteen. Godwin responded with Of Population (1820). The Marquis de Condorcet had published his utopian vision of social progress and the perfectibility of man Esquisse d'un Tableau Historique des Progres de l'Espirit Humain (The Future Progress of the Human Mind) in 1794. Malthus' remarks on Condorcet's work spans chapters 8 and 9.

WALLACE, (DR) ROBERT, celebrated as the author of a work on the numbers of mankind, and for his exertions in establishing the Scottish Ministers Widows Fund, was born on the 7th January, 1697, O.S. in the parish of Kincardine in Perthshire, of which his father, Matthew Wallace, was minister. [Scots Magazine, xxxiii. 340. ixxi. 591] As he was an only son, his early education was carefully attended to. He acquired Latin at the grammar-school of Stirling, and, in 1711, was sent to the university of Edinburgh, where he passed through the usual routine of study. He was one of the original members of the Rankenian club, a social literary fraternity, which, from the subsequent celebrity of many of its members, became remarkably connected with the literary history of Scotland. Mr Wallace directed his studies towards qualifying himself for the church of Scotland. In 1722, he was licensed to preach by the presbytery of Dumblane, and in August, 1723, the marquis of Annandale presented him with the living of Moffat.

Adam Smith (baptised 16 June 1723 died 17 July 1790[OS: 5 June 1723 17 July 1790]) was a Scottish social philosopher and a pioneer of political economy. One of the key figures of the Scottish Enlightenment, Smith is the author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. The latter, usually abbreviated as The Wealth of Nations, is considered his magnum opus and the first modern work of economics. It earned him an enormous reputation and would become one of the most influential works on economics ever published. Smith is widely cited as the father of modern economics and capitalism.

Richard Price (23 February 1723 19 April 1791) was aBritish moral philosopher and preacher in the tradition ofEnglish Dissenters, and a political pamphleteer, active in radical, republican, and liberal causes such as theAmerican Revolution. He fostered connections between a large number of people, including writers of theConstitution of the United States. He spent most of his adult life as minister of Newington Green Unitarian Church, where possibly the congregant he most influenced was early feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, who extended his ideas on the egalitarianism inherent in the spirit of the French Revolution to encompass women's rights as well. In addition to his work as a

moral andpolitical philosopher, he also wrote on issues of statisticsand finance, and was inducted into the Royal Society for these contributions.

David Hume (7 May 1711 [26 April O.S.] 25 August 1776) was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist, known especially for his philosophicalempiricism and skepticism. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy and the Scottish Enlightenment. Hume is often grouped with John Locke, George Berkeley, and a handful of others as a British Empiricist.[1]

1814: Observations on the effects of the Corn Laws

Although government in Britain had regulated the prices of corn (grain in general, e.g. wheat) since the 17th century[citation needed], the Corn Laws originated in 1815. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars that year, Parliament passed legislation banning the importation of foreign corn into Britain until domestic corn cost 80 shillings per quarter. The high price caused the cost of food to increase and so caused great distress among the working classes in the towns. This led to serious rioting in London and to the "Peterloo Massacre" (1819) in Manchester.[42][43]

Principles of Political Economy (1848) by John Stuart Millwas arguably the most important economics or political economy textbook of the mid nineteenth century. It was revised until its seventh edition in 1871, shortly before Mill's death in 1873, and republished in numerous other editions. Beside discussing descriptive issues such as which nations tended to benefit more in a system of trade based on comparative advantage (Mill's answer: those with more elastic demands for other countries' goods), the work also discussed normative issues such as ideal systems of political economy, critiquing proposed systems such as communism and socialism. [1] Along with A System of Logic, Principles of Political Economy established Mill's reputation as leading public intellectual. Mill's sympathetic attitude in this work and in other essays toward contemporary socialism, particularlyFourierism, earned him esteem from the working class as one of their intellectual champions.

David Ricardo (19 April 1772 11 September 1823) was an English political economist, often credited with systematising economics, and was one of the most influential of the classical economists, along with Thomas Malthus, Adam Smith, and John Stuart Mill.[2] He was also a member of Parliament, businessman, financier andspeculator, who amassed a considerable personal fortune. Perhaps his most important contribution was the law of comparative advantage, a fundamental argument in favour of free trade among countries and of specialisation among individuals. Ricardo argued that there is mutual benefit from trade (or exchange) even if one party (e.g. resource-rich country, highly-skilled artisan) is more productive in every possible area than its trading counterpart (e.g. resource-poor country, unskilled laborer), as long as each concentrates on the activities where it has a relative productivity advantage.