Eugenics
Eugenics (/juːˈdʒɛnɪks/ yoo-JEN-iks; from Ancient Greek εύ̃ (eû) 'good, well' and -γενής (genḗs) 'born, come into being, growing/grown')[1] is a set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population.[23] The influential historian of education Abraham Flexner questions its scientific value in stating: [T]he “science” is artificially pieced together of bits of mental hygiene, child guidance, nutrition, speech development and correction, family problems, wealth consumption, food preparation, household technology, and horticulture.[29][30] Further trials intended to discern a child's fitness included bathing them in wine and exposing them to the elements to fend for themselves, with the intention of ensuring that only those considered strongest survived and procreated.[38] The term eugenics and its modern field of study were first formulated by Francis Galton in 1883,[40][41][42][a] directly drawing on the recent work delineating natural selection by his half-cousin Charles Darwin.[47][66][67] As a social movement, eugenics reached its greatest popularity in the early decades of the 20th century, when it was practiced around the world and promoted by governments, institutions, and influential individuals.[70] Early critics of the philosophy of eugenics included the American sociologist Lester Frank Ward,[71] the English writer G. K. Chesterton, and Scottish tuberculosis pioneer and author Halliday Sutherland.B. S. Haldane and R. A. Fisher, however, also expressed skepticism in the belief that sterilization of "defectives" (i.e. a purely negative eugenics) would lead to the disappearance of undesirable genetic traits."[17]: 36 The eugenicists' political successes in Germany and Scandinavia were not at all matched in such countries as Poland and Czechoslovakia, even though measures had been proposed there, largely because of the Catholic church's moderating influence.[80] Dysgenics refers to any decrease in the prevalence of traits deemed to be either socially desirable or generally adaptive to their environment due to selective pressure disfavouring their reproduction.[81] In 1915 the term was used by David Starr Jordan to describe the supposed deleterious effects of modern warfare on group-level genetic fitness because of its tendency to kill physically healthy men while preserving the disabled at home.[84] More recent concerns about supposed dysgenic effects in human populations were advanced by the controversial psychologist and self-described "scientific racist"[85] Richard Lynn, notably in his 1996 book Dysgenics: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations, which argued that changes in selection pressures and decreased infant mortality since the Industrial Revolution have resulted in an increased propagation of deleterious traits and genetic disorders.[93] Originally coined by the Lebanese-British physician and vocal eugenicist Caleb Saleeby,[94][95][96] the term has since been applied to summarize views held by prominent feminists of Great Britain and the United States.[105] Some common early 20th century eugenics methods involved identifying and classifying individuals and their families, including the poor, mentally ill, blind, deaf, developmentally disabled, promiscuous women, homosexuals, and racial groups (such as the Roma and Jews in Nazi Germany) as "degenerate" or "unfit", and therefore led to segregation, institutionalization, sterilization, and even mass murder.[106] The Nazi policy of identifying German citizens deemed mentally or physically unfit and then systematically killing them with poison gas, referred to as the Aktion T4 campaign, is understood by historians to have paved the way for the Holocaust.[118][119][120] Developments in genetic, genomic, and reproductive technologies at the beginning of the 21st century have raised numerous questions regarding the ethical status of eugenics, sparking renewed interest in the topic.[121][14] Bioethicist Nicholas Agar, who coined the term, argues for example that the state should intervene only to forbid interventions that excessively limit a child’s ability to shape their own future.[126] In 2025, geneticist Peter Visscher published a paper in Nature, arguing genome editing of human embryos and germ cells may become feasible in the 21st century, and raising ethical considerations in the context of previous eugenics movements.[128] One general concern that many bring to the table, is that the reduced genetic diversity some argue to be a likely feature of long-term, species-wide eugenics plans,[130] could eventually result in inbreeding depression,[130] increased spread of infectious disease,[131][132][better source needed] and decreased resilience to changes in the environment.[136][137] In a 2006 newspaper article, Richard Dawkins said that discussion regarding eugenics was inhibited by the shadow of Nazi misuse, to the extent that some scientists would not admit that breeding humans for certain abilities is at all possible.Dawkins felt that enough time had elapsed to at least ask just what the ethical differences were between breeding for ability versus training athletes or forcing children to take music lessons, though he could think of persuasive reasons to draw the distinction.[133] Edwin Black, journalist, historian, and author of War Against the Weak, argues that eugenics is often deemed a pseudoscience because what is defined as a genetic improvement of a desired trait is a cultural choice rather than a matter that can be determined through objective scientific inquiry.Haldane and his once-influential Daedalus, Betrand Russell, had one serious objection of his own: eugenic policies might simply end up being used to reproduce existing power relations "rather than to make men happy.Even the goal of using germinal choice technology for clearly therapeutic purposes should be relinquished, he argues, since it would inevitably produce temptations to tamper with such things as cognitive capacities.Among Frank Herbert's other works, the Dune series, starting with the eponymous 1965 novel, describes selective breeding by a powerful sisterhood, the Bene Gesserit, to produce a supernormal male being, the Kwisatz Haderach.Relegated to the role of a cleaner owing to his genetically projected death at age 32 due to a heart condition (being told: "The only way you'll see the inside of a spaceship is if you were cleaning it"), the protagonist observes enhanced astronauts as they are demonstrating their superhuman athleticism.[156][157][f] As to its accuracy, its production company, Sony Pictures, consulted with a gene therapy researcher and prominent critic of eugenics known to have stated that "[w]e should not step over the line that delineates treatment from enhancement",[160] W. French Anderson, to ensure that the portrayal of science was realistic.
Eugenics SocietyHeredityAncient Greekgenetichuman populationphenotypesLex Papia PoppaeaJewish views on incestIncest in the BibleMalthusian LeagueEugenic feminismNazi eugenicsRacial hygieneLaw for the Prevention of HereditarilyDiseased OffspringHereditary Health CourtsLebensbornRomani HolocaustDoctors' TrialUS eugenicsSlave breeding in the USEugenics Survey of VermontOneida stirpicultureImmigration Act of 1924Sterilization law in the United StatesBuck v. BellDoe ex. rel. Tarlow v. District of ColumbiaMadrigal v. QuilliganPoe v. Lynchburg Training School & HospitalSkinner v. OklahomaStump v. SparkmanVirginia Sterilization Act of 1924The Famous FiveSexual Sterilization ActJapanese eugenicsHispanic eugenicsMexican eugenicsSwedish sterilization program (1906–1975)Peruvian sterilization program (1990–2000)Population planning in SingaporeNeo-eugenicsHe Jiankui genome editing incidentHuman genetic enhancementReligious response to assistedreproductive technologyBrighamBurbankCarrellDavenportDarwin (Leonhard)DeCourcy WardEldertonFisherGaltonGoldscheidGruberGüntherHerseniJenningsKraepelinMagnussenManuilăMittmannMoreiraNordauOsborn (Henry Fairfield)PerkinsPérezPloetzQueteletSchallmayerScharffenbergSerebrovskySlaterSouthardStoddardVacher de LapougeVerschuerKarl EvangBell (Julia)BlackerCarterCattellFigueredoFleischmanGarrettHardinHananiaHerndonItzkoffKallmannKirkconnellLederbergLundmanMacEachranMiller (Geoffrey)Miller (Edward M.)MullerMurrayNijenhuisNyborgOsborn (Frederick)Pearson (Roger)PendellPitt-RiversPopenoeRostandShapiroSloterdijkVining Jr.Hereditary GeniusInquiries into Human Faculty and Its DevelopmentDegenerationThe Training of the Human PlantEssays in EugenicsHeredity in Relation to EugenicsMankind at the CrossroadsDaedalus; or, Science and the FutureLa raza cósmicaMarriage and MoralsMan, the UnknownAfter UsEugenics manifestoNew Bottles for New WineThe Marching MoronsThe Dance with the DevilCivilized Man's Eight Deadly SinsBeyondism