Eugenics: a reassessment

378 Pages·2001·19.735 MB·English

by  Lynn, Richard

Eugenics
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Eugenics
A Reassessment
Richard Lynn
Human Evolution, Behavior, and Intelligence
Seymour W. Itzkoff, Series Editor
PRAEGE
Westport, Connecticut
London
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lynn, Richard.
Eugenics : a reassessment / Richard Lynn.
p. cm. — (Human evolution, behavior, and intelligence, ISSN 1063-2158)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-275-95822-1 (alk. paper)
1. Eugenics. I. Title. II. Series.
HQ751 .L9 2001
363.97—dc21 00-052459
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available.
Copyright © 2001 by Richard Lynn
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be
reproduced, by any process or technique, without the
express written consent of the publisher.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 00-052459
ISBN: 0-275-95822-1
ISSN: 1063-2158
First published in 2001
Praeger Publishers, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
www.praeger.com
Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this book complies with the
Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National
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In order to keep this title in print and available to the academic community, this edition
was produced using digital reprint technology in a relatively short print run. This would
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from its original appearance, the text remains the same and all materials and methods
used still conform to the highest book-making standards.
Contents
Preface: The General Theory of Eugenics vii
Part I. Historical Introduction
1. Sir Francis Galton Lays the Foundations of Eugenics 3
2. The Rise and Fall of Eugenics 18
Part II. The Objectives of Eugenics
3. Historical Formulations 47
4. Genetic Diseases and Disorders 59
5. rviental Illness 72
6. Intelligence 78
7. Mental Retardation 97
8. Personality 108
9. Psychopathic Personality 116
Part III. The Implementation of Classical Eugenics
10. The Genetic Foundations of Eugenics 137
11. The Genetic Principles of Selection 150
12. Negative Eugenics: Provision of Information and Services 165
13. Negative Eugenics: Incentives, Coercion, and Compulsion 187
14. Licenses for Parenthood 205
15. Positive Eugenics 215
16. The Ethical Principles of Classical Eugenics 225
VI Contents
Part IV. The New Eugenics
17. Developments in Human Biotechnology 245
18. Ethical Issues in Human Biotechnology 258
19. The Future of Eugenics in Democratic Societies 274
20. The Future of Eugenics in Authoritarian States 292
21. The Evolution of the Eugenic World State 307
References 321
Index 355
Preface: The General Theory
of Eugenics
During the course of the twentieth century a profound change took place in
scientific and public attitudes to eugenics. In the first half of the century,
virtually all biological scientists and most social scientists supported eugen
ics, and so also did many of the informed public. In the second half of the
century, support for eugenics declined; and in the last three decades of the
century, eugenics became almost universally rejected. In the history of sci
ence there is nothing particularly unusual in the rejection of a scientific theory.
This has happened frequently as theories have come to be seen as incorrect
and have been discarded. What is unusual is the rejection of a theory that is
essentially correct. It is my objective in this book to establish that this is what
occurred in the twentieth century with regard to eugenics.
There is such widespread lack of understanding about what eugenics is that
it will be useful to begin with a summary statement of what can be called the
general theory of eugenics. This consists of eight core propositions. These
are:
1. Certain human qualities are valuable. The most important of these are
health, intelligence, and what was described by eugenicists as "moral
character," which consists of a well-developed moral sense, self-discipline,
strong work motivation, and social concern.
2. These human qualities are valuable because they provide the foundation
for a nation's intellectual and cultural achievements; its quality of life;
and its economic, scientific, and military strength.
3. Health, intelligence, and moral character are to a substantial extent
genetically determined. Hence it would be possible to improve these
qualities genetically. This would produce an improvement of what can
be described as the "genetic human capital" of the population. This is
(cid:13)(cid:10)viii Preface
the objective of eugenics. Eugenicists recognize that these qualities are
also determined environmentally and support such attempts to improve
these qualities. Nevertheless, environmental measures to improve these
qualities are virtually universally supported and are not a distinctive part
of eugenics.
4. During the second half of the nineteenth century and throughout the
twentieth century, the populations of the Western democracies and most
of the rest of the world have been deteriorating genetically with respect
to the three qualities of health, intelligence, and moral character. This
process is known as dysgenics and poses a threat to the quality of civili
zation and culture and to the economic, scientific, and military strength
of the nation state. The first objective of eugenics is to arrest and to reverse
this process.
(cid:13)(cid:10)5. It would be feasible to improve the genetic quality of the population with
respect to its health, intelligence, and moral character. There are two
broad kinds of program by which this could be accomplished. These can
be designated "classical eugenics" and "the new eugenics." Classical eu
genics consists of the application to humans of the methods used for many
centuries by plant and animal breeders to produce plants and livestock of
better quality by breeding from the better specimens. The application of
such a selective breeding program to human populations would require
policies for "positive eugenics," designed to increase the numbers of chil
dren of the healthy, the intelligent, and those with strong moral charac
ter; and for "negative eugenics," designed to reduce the numbers of chil
dren of the unhealthy and of those with low intelligence and weak moral
character.
6. The new eugenics consists of the use of human biotechnology to achieve
eugenic objectives. The techniques of human biotechnology comprise
artificial insemination by donor (AID), prenatal diagnosis of genetic
diseases and disorders, in vitro fertilization and preimplantation diagno
sis, cloning, and genetic engineering by the implantation of new genes.
7. Eugenics serves the needs of individuals and of nation states. It serves the
needs of individuals because people like to have children who are healthy
and intelligent and of good moral character. It serves the needs of the
nation state because a nation state whose population has good health,
high intelligence, and good moral character is stronger and more likely
to succeed in competition with other nation states.
Although there has been much discussion in the Western democracies ies
about whether the biotechnologies of embryo selection, cloning, and the
like are ethical and should be permitted, the prohibition of them will not
be successful. No new technologies that serve human needs have ever
been successfully suppressed. The important question about eugenics is
Preface IX
not if it should be allowed, but where it will be developed and how to
counter the threat this will present to the Western democracies.
This book is concerned with the elaboration and establishment of these
eight core propositions of eugenics. It may be helpful for the reader if I map
out the framework in which this task is attempted. The book is divided into
four parts. Part I gives a historical account of eugenics, its foundation by Sir
Francis Galton in the second half of the nineteenth century and up to his
death in 1911, the increasing acceptance of eugenics during the first half of
the twentieth century, and the decline of support for eugenics in the second
half of the century. Part II discusses the objectives of eugenics and whether
these should be confined to the improvement of the genetic quality of the
population in respect to the reduction of genetic diseases and disorders and
the increase of its intelligence and the strengthening of its moral character.
Part III is concerned with the policies for the achievement of these objec
tives by the use of the classical eugenics of selective reproduction. Part IV is
concerned with the new eugenics of human biotechnology as it has been
developed in the closing decades of the twentieth century, how it is likely to
evolve in the future in democratic societies, and how it is likely to be used for
the development of national strength by authoritarian states, leading ulti
mately to the establishment of a world state.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am greatly indebted to Harry Weyher for his encouragement in under
taking the task of writing this book, to the Pioneer Fund for support, and to
Marian van Court for her critical comments on this work.