Of Goats, Theorems, and Laws: Fictions Adrift

Joseph Townsend’s (1786) advances the thesis that aid to the poor generates more poverty. It is a work that twists and traduces a number of bibliographic sources in order to produce its famous theorem about goats and dogs, an idea that would have tremendous influence on public policy on overpopulation. The sources of Townsend's are based on the figure of Alexander Selkirk, who lived as a castaway on an island of the Juan Fernández Archipelago. This essay analyzes Townsend's sources and takes note of the spread of his proposals, the Robinsonades, and their validation by ostensibly scientific discourses which have asserted their truth value over and above that of literary fictions. In closing, it demonstrates Townsend's own grounding in fiction, and considers the role the shaping power of literature might play in the reimagination of a world out of joint.