Abstract
Eugenics casts a long shadow over contemporary genetics. Any measure, whether in clinical genetics or biotechnology, which is suspected of eugenic intent is likely to be opposed on that ground. Yet there is little consensus on what this word signifies, and often only a remote connection to the very complex set of social movements which took that name. After a brief historical summary of eugenics, this essay attempts to locate any wrongs inherent in eugenic doctrines. Four candidates are examined and rejected. The moral challenge posed by eugenics for genetics in our own time, I argue, is to achieve social justice.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Kamrat-Lang D. Healing society: medical language in American eugenics. Sci Context. 1995 Spring;8(1):175–196. doi: 10.1017/s0269889700001940. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- MacKenzie D. Eugenics in Britain. Soc Stud Sci. 1976 Sep;6(3-4):499–532. doi: 10.1177/030631277600600310. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Muller C. A window on the past: the position of the client in twentieth century public health thought and practice. Am J Public Health. 1985 May;75(5):470–476. doi: 10.2105/ajph.75.5.470. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Pernick M. S. Eugenics and public health in American history. Am J Public Health. 1997 Nov;87(11):1767–1772. doi: 10.2105/ajph.87.11.1767. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Roll-Hansen N. Geneticists and the eugenics movement in Scandinavia. Br J Hist Sci. 1989 Sep;22(74 Pt 3):335–346. doi: 10.1017/s0007087400026194. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Weiss S. The race hygiene movement in Germany. Osiris. 1987;3:193–236. doi: 10.1086/368666. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wikler D., Barondess J. Bioethics and anti-bioethics in light of Nazi medicine: what must we remember? Kennedy Inst Ethics J. 1993 Mar;3(1):39–55. doi: 10.1353/ken.0.0130. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]