‘Under a perfect government […] the earth would soon be overstocked’: Measure and Excess in Robert Wallace’s Various Prospects of Nature, Mankind and Providence (1761)
The question of how to regulate population in a utopia is most often addressed in terms of social control to ensure that all inhabitants abide by the rules that guarantee the community’s preservation. Wallace raises a different and original issue in his Various Prospects. Despite the admiration he v...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Société d'Etudes Anglo-Américaines des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles
2014-12-01
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| Series: | XVII-XVIII |
| Online Access: | http://journals.openedition.org/1718/390 |
| _version_ | 1819106547287982080 |
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| author | Alexandra Sippel |
| author_facet | Alexandra Sippel |
| author_sort | Alexandra Sippel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The question of how to regulate population in a utopia is most often addressed in terms of social control to ensure that all inhabitants abide by the rules that guarantee the community’s preservation. Wallace raises a different and original issue in his Various Prospects. Despite the admiration he voices for ancient and modern utopists and their equalitarian schemes, he points to the ultimate danger of a lack of measure of a mushrooming population that would necessarily result from a perfect constitution. His conclusion is that God allows evil and injustice to prevent worse consequences that the over-population of a finite earth would produce. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T02:39:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3c2732d0c62c487d9c80f534ac471e43 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0291-3798 2117-590X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T02:39:52Z |
| publishDate | 2014-12-01 |
| publisher | Société d'Etudes Anglo-Américaines des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles |
| record_format | Article |
| series | XVII-XVIII |
| spelling | doaj.art-3c2732d0c62c487d9c80f534ac471e432022-12-21T18:41:40ZengSociété d'Etudes Anglo-Américaines des XVIIe et XVIIIe sièclesXVII-XVIII0291-37982117-590X2014-12-0171496410.4000/1718.390‘Under a perfect government […] the earth would soon be overstocked’: Measure and Excess in Robert Wallace’s Various Prospects of Nature, Mankind and Providence (1761)Alexandra SippelThe question of how to regulate population in a utopia is most often addressed in terms of social control to ensure that all inhabitants abide by the rules that guarantee the community’s preservation. Wallace raises a different and original issue in his Various Prospects. Despite the admiration he voices for ancient and modern utopists and their equalitarian schemes, he points to the ultimate danger of a lack of measure of a mushrooming population that would necessarily result from a perfect constitution. His conclusion is that God allows evil and injustice to prevent worse consequences that the over-population of a finite earth would produce.http://journals.openedition.org/1718/390 |
| spellingShingle | Alexandra Sippel ‘Under a perfect government […] the earth would soon be overstocked’: Measure and Excess in Robert Wallace’s Various Prospects of Nature, Mankind and Providence (1761) XVII-XVIII |
| title | ‘Under a perfect government […] the earth would soon be overstocked’: Measure and Excess in Robert Wallace’s Various Prospects of Nature, Mankind and Providence (1761) |
| title_full | ‘Under a perfect government […] the earth would soon be overstocked’: Measure and Excess in Robert Wallace’s Various Prospects of Nature, Mankind and Providence (1761) |
| title_fullStr | ‘Under a perfect government […] the earth would soon be overstocked’: Measure and Excess in Robert Wallace’s Various Prospects of Nature, Mankind and Providence (1761) |
| title_full_unstemmed | ‘Under a perfect government […] the earth would soon be overstocked’: Measure and Excess in Robert Wallace’s Various Prospects of Nature, Mankind and Providence (1761) |
| title_short | ‘Under a perfect government […] the earth would soon be overstocked’: Measure and Excess in Robert Wallace’s Various Prospects of Nature, Mankind and Providence (1761) |
| title_sort | under a perfect government the earth would soon be overstocked measure and excess in robert wallace s various prospects of nature mankind and providence 1761 |
| url | http://journals.openedition.org/1718/390 |
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