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THE HISTORY OF EUGENICS

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The Ethics of the New Eugenics
This chapter is in the book The Ethics of the New Eugenics
THE HISTORYOF EUGENICSThe Development of EugenicsIn examining and evaluating the new eugenics, a useful starting place is the history of eugenic programs.1Past attempts to better humanity, whether the individual or whole populations, serve as important mirrors for the present. This section looks, therefore, at how and why past eugenic programs were implemented. Such a tour of humanity’s dark past will highlight some of the risks of the present as well as possible directions for the future.Selective breeding in the human species was suggested at least as early as the Greek philosopher Plato (427 bce–347 bce), who believed that human repro-duction should be controlled by government.2Plato recorded these views in his famous dialogue the Republicin which Socrates discusses a number of topics. After observing hunting dogs and noble birds in the estate of Glaucon, a leading man in Athens, Socrates draws an analogy between humans and animals. He asks Glaucon ‘if care was not taken in the breeding, your dogs and birds would greatly deterio-rate?’ Glaucon answers affi rmatively, prompting Socrates to suggest that the same principle holds for our species. Through Socrates, Plato then concludes that ‘[t]he best men must have intercourse with the best women as frequently as possible, and the opposite is true of the very inferior’.3Plato also proposed that selection be per-formed by a fake lottery system so that people’s feelings would not be hurt by any awareness of selection principles.4However, even prior to Plato, the ancient city of Sparta had, allegedly, developed radical eugenic policies. It reportedly practiced a form of physical selection by leaving babies outside city borders to test their strength. Those who were too weak then died of exposure.5This kind of selection was later generally rejected, however, with the growth of the major monotheist faiths which condemned practices such as infanticide and the intrusion of third parties into the sexual lives of married couples. Of course, many forms of injustices and exploitation, such as slavery, remained, and individuals in society were often seen as ‘unequal’. But it was only when the infl uence of these
© 2022, Berghahn Books, New York, Oxford

THE HISTORYOF EUGENICSThe Development of EugenicsIn examining and evaluating the new eugenics, a useful starting place is the history of eugenic programs.1Past attempts to better humanity, whether the individual or whole populations, serve as important mirrors for the present. This section looks, therefore, at how and why past eugenic programs were implemented. Such a tour of humanity’s dark past will highlight some of the risks of the present as well as possible directions for the future.Selective breeding in the human species was suggested at least as early as the Greek philosopher Plato (427 bce–347 bce), who believed that human repro-duction should be controlled by government.2Plato recorded these views in his famous dialogue the Republicin which Socrates discusses a number of topics. After observing hunting dogs and noble birds in the estate of Glaucon, a leading man in Athens, Socrates draws an analogy between humans and animals. He asks Glaucon ‘if care was not taken in the breeding, your dogs and birds would greatly deterio-rate?’ Glaucon answers affi rmatively, prompting Socrates to suggest that the same principle holds for our species. Through Socrates, Plato then concludes that ‘[t]he best men must have intercourse with the best women as frequently as possible, and the opposite is true of the very inferior’.3Plato also proposed that selection be per-formed by a fake lottery system so that people’s feelings would not be hurt by any awareness of selection principles.4However, even prior to Plato, the ancient city of Sparta had, allegedly, developed radical eugenic policies. It reportedly practiced a form of physical selection by leaving babies outside city borders to test their strength. Those who were too weak then died of exposure.5This kind of selection was later generally rejected, however, with the growth of the major monotheist faiths which condemned practices such as infanticide and the intrusion of third parties into the sexual lives of married couples. Of course, many forms of injustices and exploitation, such as slavery, remained, and individuals in society were often seen as ‘unequal’. But it was only when the infl uence of these
© 2022, Berghahn Books, New York, Oxford

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. CONTENTS v
  3. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii
  4. A NOTE ON THE TEXT viii
  5. ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ix
  6. INTRODUCTION 1
  7. THE HISTORY OF EUGENICS 15
  8. GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO EUGENIC PROCEDURES 35
  9. GENERAL ETHICAL DISCUSSION 117
  10. ARGUMENTS SUPPORTING THE NEW EUGENICS 120
  11. ARGUMENTS OPPOSING THE NEW EUGENICS 133
  12. CONCLUSION 184
  13. APPENDIX I Past and Present Personalities Supporting Eugenic Policies 196
  14. APPENDIX II Scottish Council on Human Bioethics Recommendations on Eugenics 205
  15. GLOSSARY 207
  16. BIBLIOGRAPHY 212
  17. INDEX 229
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https://doi.org/10.1515/9781782381211-005

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. CONTENTS v
  3. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii
  4. A NOTE ON THE TEXT viii
  5. ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ix
  6. INTRODUCTION 1
  7. THE HISTORY OF EUGENICS 15
  8. GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO EUGENIC PROCEDURES 35
  9. GENERAL ETHICAL DISCUSSION 117
  10. ARGUMENTS SUPPORTING THE NEW EUGENICS 120
  11. ARGUMENTS OPPOSING THE NEW EUGENICS 133
  12. CONCLUSION 184
  13. APPENDIX I Past and Present Personalities Supporting Eugenic Policies 196
  14. APPENDIX II Scottish Council on Human Bioethics Recommendations on Eugenics 205
  15. GLOSSARY 207
  16. BIBLIOGRAPHY 212
  17. INDEX 229
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