POPULATION
Aristotle exhibits an interest in the problem of population in relation to subsistence in his criticism of Plato for limiting the amount of property and making it indivisible, while failing to provide against a too high birth-rate.[[770]] He states the principle that, if property is to be limited, there must be a corresponding limitation on the increase of population,[[771]] and that the let-alone policy must be followed by increased poverty.[[772]] He therefore criticizes the Spartan law, for encouraging the largest possible families.[[773]] It is evident, however, that, as in the case of Plato, his interest in the problem is prompted chiefly by a moral and political motive. It arises merely from his desire to limit individual acquisition, in a small state, artificially constructed, and is to him in no sense a question of world food-supply.[[774]]