Weitere Fachbücher aus dem Fachgebiet:
Wissenschaftsgeschichte |
|
|
| zurück |
Beschreibung
The Unfit, by Elof Carlson, explores the sources of a movement—negative eugenics—that was used to justify the Holocaust, which claimed millions of innocent lives in World War II. The title reflects the nearly three centuries of belief that some people are socially unfit by virtue of a defective biology, and echoes an earlier theory of degeneracy, dating to biblical antiquity, in which some people were deemed unfit because of some transgression against religious law. The author presents the first biological theory of degeneracy—onanism—and then follows the development of degeneracy theory throughout the nineteenth century and its application to a variety of social classes. The key intellectual theories and their proponents form the framework of this exploration, which includes the concepts of evolution and heredity and how they were applied to social problems. These ideas are followed into the twentieth century with the development of theories of positive and negative eugenics, the establishment of compulsory sterilization laws, racism and anti–Semitism, and the Holocaust.
This story of misapplied science and technology is one that still haunts humanity in the twenty–first century. The ghost of eugenics recurs in many guises during debates and controversies about intelligence testing, genetic screening, prenatal diagnosis, gene therapy, new reproductive strategies, and uses of our genomic information. Carlson ends his discussion of the history of humanity in this arena with an exploration of the future of genetics that is based on new technologies and application of the Human Genome Project findings, as well as a discussion of the death of the old eugenics and of the problems that will not go away, including our ambivalence about our own biology.
|
|
Inhalt
Introduction
Part 1: Before Darwin
Chapter 1. Who Are the Unfit?
Chapter 2. The Unfit in Biblical Times
Chapter 3. Self-pollution and Declining Health
Chapter 4. Degeneracy Theory: Identifying the Innately Depraved and the Victims of Vicious Upbringing
Chapter 5. Dangerous Classes and Social Degeneracy
Chapter 6. Poor Laws, and the Descent to Degeneracy
Chapter 7. The Perfectibility of Man Confronts Vice and Misery
Chapter 8. Evolutionary Ethics before Darwin
Chapter 9. Hereditary Units and the Pessimism of the Germ Plasm
Part 2: Eugenics Takes the Spotlight
Chapter 10. The Jukes and the Tribe of Ishmael
Chapter 11. A Minor Prophet of Democracy
Chapter 12. Isolating the Unfit through Compulsory Sterilization
Chapter 13. The Emergence of Two Wings of the Eugenics Movement
Chapter 14. Europe's Undesirables Replace the Domestic Unfit
Chapter 15. Eugenics Becomes an International Movement
Part 3: Racism, the Holocaust, and Beyond
Chapter 16. Racism and Human Inequality
Chapter 17. Jews as People, Race, Culture, Religion, and Victims
Chapter 18. The Smoke of Auschwitz
Chapter 19. The Abandonment of Eugenics by Genetics
Chapter 20. The Future of Eugenics
Chapter 21. Dealing with Life's Imperfections
Appendices
Appendix 1: Flow Diagrams and the History of Ideas
Appendix 2: Useful Books on the History of Eugenics
Appendix 3: Bibliography
Index
Zielgruppe/Leser
Reviews
review:
“Carlson's thoroughly readable, at times wryly entertaining, account of the history of the old eugenics shows that it was not invented by monsters, and that while some of its proponents were people one would not invite to lunch, many were progressive, decent radicals and doctors with a passion for constructive social reform. There are strange and unexpected precursors; sterilization started as what was thought to be the much–needed cure for habitual masturbation. Many of the measures, including mandatory sterilization of the "unfit", were deemed in their day to be humane and progressive social policies. The fashionable commination of eugenics has obscured both the unpleasant physical realities about our genes and the wider truths about the two deep currents of human culture on which eugenics floated—beating up the neighbours, and ensuring the quality of our own posterity. . . .
Carlson maintains an exemplary detachment: he does not demonize or mock, and extracts only limited morals. A biologist by trade, unlike some other biologists who have written much on this subject, he stands as a historian rather than a man with a big agenda. He attributes the change, around the end of the nineteenth century, from social reform to the application of newly available genetic ideas, to a mounting frustration at the sheer lack of progress that had been made in fifty years of sincere assaults on social problems by environmental means. Although much intellectual racism owed nothing to eugenics, it is sadly true that systematized bigotry, racism and genocide, for a brief period only, were able to use a primitive and substantially flawed understanding of human genetics as a rationalization for what they would have done anyway. As such, genetics is a minor episode in this aspect of human history.”
—Times Literary Supplement
review:
“ The Unfit: A History of a Bad Idea is a valuable contribution to historical scholarship relating to the eugenics movements of the 19th and 20th centuries. . . . Carlson shows that long before Francis Galton coined the term 'eugenics,' scientists, physicians, philosophers, social reformers, and theologians had discussed the idea of an unfit class of people and had proposed solutions to deal with people they regarded as unfit. He also points out that many of those associated with the movement were ‘people of good will, many with outstanding credentials as social reformers.’ Carlson further reminds readers that even if societies do not enact eugenics laws, couples planning to have children will still face difficult moral decisions created by the availability of genetic counseling, prenatal genetic testing, and elective abortion.
Although many may regard the eugenics movement as little more than an unfortunate chapter in human history, Carlson's book reminds us that the idea of an unfit group of people is not likely to fade into history, since it is a common strategy for explaining and responding to humanity's moral, physiological, and psychological imperfections. As we learn more about the genetic basis of disease and gain more control over human health and reproduction, we must also learn to deal with human imperfections without stigmatizing classes or races of people as unfit.”
—New England Journal of Medicine
review: “Informative and generally reliable, [The Unfit] deals with a tremendously important issue in a sensitive and responsible manner. It can only be hoped that books like this one will help lessen our susceptibility to essentialistic thinking.”
—Nature Genetics
review: “The book is extremely well documented and draws from a wide variety of scientific, religious, philosophical, and historical sources. Carlson makes sense of a broad collection of related themes, claims, and activities, and he constructs a cohesive narrative that explains the intellectual and historical backgrounds to eugenics, the impacts of eugenics on Western societies, and the ongoing concerns about modern genetics. It should be especially useful to students and instructors dealing with the scientific racism and eugenics and those interested in the historical background to current concerns about genetics.”
—Journal of the History of Biology
review: “Carlson notes that ‘social reformers, liberals, people of good intentions, left–wing ideologues, and well–intended scientists’ all contributed to the strength of the eugenics movements, not just racist academics and big charity [as Edwin Black emphasizes in ‘War Against the Weak’]. Carlson's own mentor, Hermann Muller, an influential geneticist, bravely denounced eugenics—at the 1932 International Congress of Eugenics, which was its high water mark in many respects.
We found Professor Carlson's reflections on dealing with life's imperfections to be quite thoughtful, morally compelling, and sensible. His is a well written book, full of intriguing information and discerning interpretations. The reader will learn a great deal and be given much cause to reflect.”
—The Appellate Practice Journal
|
|
CRISPR-Cas:
Budding Yeast
Learning and Memory
Conservation Science: Balancing the Needs of People and Nature
Introduction to Optical Microscopy
Organic Chemistry
CURRENT PROTOCOLS Wiley USA