Le poids du nombre | Georges Minois

EAN : 9782262032241

Shaping : BROCHE

Pages : 684

Size : 154 x 240 mm

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THE WEIGHT OF OUR NUMBERS

Georges Minois

Release date : 10/02/2011

Is our planet going to crumble under the weight of its own exponentially increasing population? Since the times of ancient Greece, partisans and opponents of unbridled reproduction have clashed in a debate whose cultural and ethical aspects are as important as their economic and scientific ones.
In the past several... Is our planet going to crumble under the weight of its own exponentially increasing population? Since the times of ancient Greece, partisans and opponents of unbridled reproduction have clashed in a debate whose cultural and ethical aspects are as important as their economic and scientific ones.
In the past several years, the spectre of over-population has loomed on the horizon and appeared once again in global media. The world at present has 220,000 more mouths to feed with every passing day. What can we do, when our resources do not expand at the same pace and, on the contrary, are in some cases simply running out?
Plato was already worrying about the problem when the world had forty times fewer inhabitants, which demonstrates how the concept of over-population is more a question of a mentality than of actual numbers. Since the «increase and multiply» of Genesis, partisans of the dictum and those who favour curbing the birth rate have locked horns, not only in terms of statistics proffered, but especially on religious and philosophical grounds. In truth, the debate on overpopulation that Pastor Malthus brought noisily back to the fore in 1800 touches upon the fundamental values of life.
In this fascinating work, Georges Minois covers 25 centuries of the history, not of over-population itself, but of the manner in which individuals and societies have perceived it.

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Voir la fiche produit

EAN : 9782262032241

Shaping : BROCHE

Pages : 684

Size : 154 x 240 mm

See the product page