Eugenics then and now / edited by Carl Jay Bajema.

Date:
[1976], ©1976
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Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Credit: Eugenics then and now / edited by Carl Jay Bajema. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Editor's Comments on Papers 7 Through 3 (2) opposing voluntarism (i.e., appeals to conscience) as a means by which the size of human populations should be regulated, and (3) restricting discussion of eugenics proposals to those that were in tune with the moral sense of Victorian England. Charles Darwin's views on eugenics were very similar to those of his cousin, Francis Galton. In The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, Darwin (1871 ) concluded: The advancement of the welfare of mankind is a most intricate prob¬ lem: all ought to refrain from marriage who cannot avoid abject pov¬ erty for their children; for poverty is not only a great evil, but tends to its own increase by leading to recklessness in marriage. On the other hand, as Mr. Galton has remarked, if the prudent avoid marriage, whilst the reckless marry, the inferior members will tend to supplant the better members of society. Man, like every other animal, has no doubt advanced to his present high condition through a struggle for existence consequent on his rapid multiplication; and if he is to advance still higher he must remain subject to a severe struggle. Otherwise he would soon sink into indolence, and the more highly gifted men would not be more successful in the battle of life than the less gifted. Hence our natural rate of increase, though leading to many and obvious evils, must not be greatly diminished by any means. There should be open competition for all men; and the most able should not be prevented by laws or customs from succeeding best and rearing the largest number of offspring. 13