First steps towards eugenic reform / by Leonard Darwin.

  • Leonard Darwin
Date:
[between 1910 and 1919?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: First steps towards eugenic reform / by Leonard Darwin. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    objection to all Eugenic practice that, before taking any steps intended to affect the characteristics of the race in the future, Eugenists ought to decide on the ideal at which they are aiming, or on the exact type of man they wish to encourage, whereas on this point they, as a rule, are nearly silent. Un¬ questionably it is necessary to decide in a general way as to what qualities are held to be good and what to be bad, a subject in regard to which there is, however, not likely to be any wide differences of opinion. Moreover, it might perhaps be necessary to lay down as a general principle that marked excellence in any desirable quality ought to go very far towards outweighing any undesirable qualities ; for in this way we should minimise the risk of any line of advance being, as it were, impeded by our reforms. This maybe worth noting because, in connection with this question of the ideal type, the opponents of Eugenic reform have freely declared that its adoption in the past would have resulted in Ruskin, Carlyle, Stevenson, Keats, and many other unhealthy geniuses never having appeared on the face of the earth. But, in certain examinations, excellence in one subject is held to pass the candidate even if very defective in others ; and if, as above suggested, this rule had been generally adopted as part of the Eugenic test, then probably few, if any, of the above mentioned geniuses would have been ruled out. True the retort may be made that the Eugenist would prevent if he could the appearance on earth of all individuals destined to be very unhealthy, and that in this way the appearance of all the above- mentioned geniuses would have been unintentionally inhibited. But if our opponents credit us with the power of being able to foretell what marriages are likely to be followed by the appear¬ ance of very sickly children, may we not also be credited with at least some power of prophesying the appearance of rare ability, and therefore with being little disposed to forbid the banns when this would be likely to be the result of any marriage ? Moreover, this attack on the eugenic method ought to be based on the unhealthiness, not of the geniuses themselves, but of their progenitors. Did these great men spring from very unsound stocks ? If not, Eugenic reformers would not have sought to hawe interfered. No doubt it has been asserted that geniuses
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