Great Britain -- Social conditions; Moral conditions; Social problems
As far as positive Eugenics, or the selection of good human stocks for
breeding, is concerned, the recent evolution of the movement seems to
show that no firm and practicable proposal can yet be formulated. The
truth is that the movement is greatly enfeebled by a general reliance
on disputed theories of heredity. Some Eugenists rely on Weismann's
theory: some on the Mendelist theory. They do not realise that
scientific men are by no means agreed upon these theories, and it is a
serious mistake to build on either. In England most of our biologists
are Weismannists (in a broad sense), but there is more hostility to
the theory in Germany and the United States, and both theories have
lately had to confront grave difficulties. Any Eugenic proposal which
is based on a theory of heredity must be regarded with reserve. The
dogmatic statements of Professor Karl Pearson, for instance, in regard
to the impossibility of altering by education the innate qualities of
a child are entirely unwarranted. Heredity is still a mystery: and the
relative importance of heredity and environment (or nature and
nurture) is not yet determined.
Detaching the element of theory, we have a plain proposal to eradicate
tainted stocks from the human garden and promote the growth of the
sounder. As I have said, the positive proposal to breed has not yet
been put before us in a practicable or discussable form. This is
largely because Eugenists fear to alarm the public by pointing out how
it affects the position of marriage. There are, however, many other
difficulties. The extraordinary diversity among children of the same
parents warns us that we cannot count on the result of mating human
beings, with their infinitely more complex nervous systems, as we can
count on the issue of mating sheep or dogs. The mediocrity of the
living children of our ablest men of the last generation, even when
the mother was an excellent mate, is another circumstance to be
considered. We do not yet know the points to breed for, and there is
no constancy of result. Eugenists sometimes refer to the physical or
mental superiority of one class of children over another, but in this
they do not attempt to distinguish between the effect of environment
and the natural endowment. Positive Eugenics is not yet beyond the
stage of research. Such research, if conducted without academic
prejudice (which is too apparent in many Eugenic papers), is of very
great service; and, if ever a firm proposal lies before us, we may
trust that rhetorical phrases and clerical prejudices will not be
allowed to bar the way.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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