Some of the 19th and 20th century followers of Darwin hit on a novel way to speed up the "natural selection" process. Their ideas led to the development of what is called "eugenics." Please read through the Wikipedia summary of the eugenics movement. What do you see here that suggests that there is a dark side to the Darwinian idea of progress?
Thursday, October 29, 2015
The Eugenics Movement (extra credit)
Some of the 19th and 20th century followers of Darwin hit on a novel way to speed up the "natural selection" process. Their ideas led to the development of what is called "eugenics." Please read through the Wikipedia summary of the eugenics movement. What do you see here that suggests that there is a dark side to the Darwinian idea of progress?
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In lecture we heard that the idea of natural selection was not "new" and that even Darwin gave a tip of the hat to Edward Blyth. Blaming Darwin for the the genocides of WWII is like blaming Tesla for the people ran over by a Tesla Model S. Genocide was around long before Darwin or Hitler. The extermination of the Midianites is an example.
ReplyDeleteDespite Darwin's displeasure with the natural selection happening in mankind, it was Francis Galton who coined the term eugenics but even that was long after Plato had suggested selective mating.
Yes, mankind is capable of horrific atrocities, but to blame it on Darwinian followers seems to be scapegoating. Why not call it Platoinan or Aristotleian?
Each of us are responsible for our own actions. Darwin is not responsible for our actions no more than the DJ who plays a song on the radio, no matter how crappy the lyrics may be.
- Matthew Traylor