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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eugenics | 1/5 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T09:19:34.922682+00:00 | kb-cron |
Eugenics is a largely discredited set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human phenotypes by inhibiting the fertility of those considered inferior, often through forced sterilization, or promoting that of those considered superior. The contemporary history of eugenics began in the late 19th century, when a popular eugenics movement emerged in the United Kingdom, which spread to most European countries (e.g., Sweden and Germany), and many other countries, including the United States, Canada, and Australia. Historically, the idea of eugenics has been used to argue for a broad array of practices ranging from prenatal care for mothers deemed genetically desirable to the forced sterilisation and murder of those deemed unfit. To population geneticists, the term has included the avoidance of inbreeding without altering allele frequencies; for example, British-Indian scientist J. B. S. Haldane wrote in 1940 that "the motor bus, by breaking up inbred village communities, was a powerful eugenic agent." Debate as to what qualifies as eugenics continues today. A progressive social movement promoting eugenics had originated in the 19th century, with diverse support, but by the mid 20th century the term was closely associated with scientific racism and authoritarian coercion. With modern medical genetics, genetic testing and counselling have become common, and new or liberal eugenics rejects coercive programmes in favour of individual parental choice.
== Common distinctions == Eugenic programmes included both positive measures, such as encouraging individuals deemed particularly "fit" to reproduce, and negative measures, such as marriage prohibitions and forced sterilisation of people deemed unfit for reproduction. Positive eugenics is aimed at encouraging reproduction among the genetically advantaged, for example, the intelligent, the healthy, and the successful. Possible approaches include financial and political stimuli, targeted demographic analyses, in vitro fertilisation, egg transplants, and cloning. Negative eugenics aimed to eliminate, through sterilisation or segregation, those deemed physically, mentally, or morally undesirable. This includes abortions, sterilisation, and other methods of family planning. Both positive and negative eugenics can be coercive; in Nazi Germany, for example, abortion was illegal for women deemed by the state to be superior.
=== As opposed to "euthenics" ===
== Historical eugenics ==
=== Ancient and medieval origins ===
In ancient Sparta, according to Plutarch (fl. 50 to 120 CE), the council of elders (the Gerousia) inspected every proper citizen's child and determined whether or not the child was fit to live. A child deemed unfit was allegedly thrown into a chasm. Plutarch's account is the sole historical source for the Spartan practice of infanticide motivated by eugenics. While ancient Greeks practiced infanticide, no contemporary sources support Plutarch's claims of infanticide on eugenic grounds. In 2007, the tradition of dumping infants near Mount Taygete was called into question due to a lack of physical evidence: anthropologist Theodoros Pitsios' research of the site found only bodies ranging in age from 18 to 35 years. Plato's political philosophy included the belief that the state should cautiously monitor and control human reproduction through selective breeding. According to Tacitus (c. 56 – c. 120), a Roman of the Imperial Period, the Germanic tribes of his day killed any member of their community they deemed cowardly, un-warlike or "stained with abominable vices", usually by drowning them in swamps. Modern historians regard Tacitus' ethnographic writing as unreliable in such details.
=== Academic origins ===