Malthusian Theory in World Literature

In the nineteenth century, the social views of Thomas Malthus (1766–1883) were very popular in the world, in which the growth of the population was discussed in relation to the growth of the means of existence (amount of food). According to Malthus, the population increases with geometric progression, and the means of existence (amount of food) increases with arithmetic progression. In the work "Essay on Population" (1798, 2nd edition - 1803), Malthus emphasized the importance of such factors as disease, hunger, violence in the process of stopping population growth rates, maintaining the balance between population growth and its provision through existence. ("positive control" of population growth), abstinence from sexual life, late marriage, moral restrictions ("preventive control"). Malthus tried to formulate the biological and social factors of population growth processes in the form of "the law of naming". Malthus's theory was unacceptable to writers, and his criticism did not stop throughout the nineteenth century. In this regard, Georgian writer Davit Kldiashvili's (1862-1931) story "Samanishvili's stepmother" and Anton Chekhov's (1860-1904) novella - "Before Marriage" are interesting. In both works, Malthus's theory is anti-humanist, and by quoting it, the authors emphasize the moral degradation of the characters. In the nineteenth century, the social views of Thomas Malthus were very popular in the world, some mercilessly criticized him, while others supported him. Malthus's theory was also reflected in literature, but the attitude towards it was uniform - negative. Who was Malthus and what was the essence of his social views?