...After looking into possible topics I was interested in, I decided I wanted to focus on the interplay of science and ethics. Moving forward, I decided I wanted to specifically examine the link between Genetics and Ethics—more specifically, the history and origin of Eugenics and its effect on human behavior. I have always been interested in the role of genetics in the growth of human civilization. Eugenics, which refers to the study of improving specific qualities of a human population or civilization by encouraging and discouraging specific genes in a gene pool, is particularly sensitive and controversial topic because of science ethics and the debate over whether how much control we should have over science and our bodies. In this paper,...
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...Paul Popenoe and Roswell Johnson, in their blatantly eugenicist 1918 University textbook, Applied Eugenics, supported a national education system that would work as “a sieve through which all children in the country are passed” and “which will enable the teacher to determine just how far it is profitable to educate each child that he may lead a life of greatest possible usefulness to the state and happiness to himself.” Teachers must inspect children for ability and inability, for compulsory education should be utilized for both positive and negative eugenics programs. In the quote, they talk about the hazards of 'too great a democritazation' of the country is dangerous. They focus on how the notion of democracy functions - How every person, lay man or an expert, has one equal vote. They approach the subject through a different viewpoint, a more morally weighted, "What ought the people to want?", as opposed to "What do the people want?" Through this lens of intention and collective good, Popenoe and Johnson try to point out that often more times than not, the vox populi want something that in the long term, may be harmful or detrimental to the society and welfare of the state. This is the problem they have with democracy and the system of governance it gives mandate to, the layman being given as equal a vote as an 'expert' in the field. They mention that most of the general population know little about the most important projects that will benefit society, and still expect...
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...As stated earlier the white monitory felt under threat and fear the extinction of the race as a whole and eugenics was perceive to be their last hope (Reference). Just as Britain had used eugenics in the classification of social status based on race; eugenics enabled the so-called “hereditary defects” to be segregated from society to protect the purity of the white race (Reference). Eugenics lay behind the construction of segregationist ideology in South Africa (Reference) as Professor Susanne Klausen. Each person belonged to the race where the texture of hair and skin color matched (Reference). Furthermore the Hassle on the distinctiveness of different cultures meant the burden of explaining human differences; eugenics was seen as the most efficient way of doing so. It fuelled the physiological reality of racism and enabled it to be institutionalized. Nonetheless, the acceptance of eugenics/ scientific racism into South African was a seamless due to the fact; no one challenged the authority of science or the...
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...the involvement of eugenics and its deep participation in the Third Reich. The SS Main Office served as a driving force in distributing propaganda. For example, slogans had been imprinted and displayed on walls, most often containing violent warnings of the dangers of mixing Aryan blood with other races which were considered undesirable. Similar to American ideology, Nazi leaders believed that the degradation of the German race was due to the addition of primarily Jewish blood. These ideas were followed by enforcement of the Nuremberg laws in 1935 that prohibited the union, and sexual relations between unfit members of society, like the Jews and Roma, and those with pure German blood. The SS Main Office is also responsible for the creation of Lebensborns. Lebensborns were special programs that were composed of eight rules which focused on Aryan women and their duty to have as much offspring as possible in order to create their ideal race. Doctors also encouraged SS soldiers to...
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... Several of these ideas of separation are found in the eugenics movement. Eugenics is the science of improving mankind by discouraging those with weak genes from having children and encouraging those deemed superior. This discouragement overall was not intended as a punishment for the weak, but it was designed to alleviate them the hardship of having to bring up children which they couldn’t support. ("Eugenics: Did the Eugenics Movement Benefit the United States?" 19). Eugenics started with Sir Francis Galton; he was a scientist in the U.K. studying hereditary patterns in people when he developed the early ideas of eugenics and the word itself. The movement started in 1904 (with Galton’s coining of the word) and became popular rapidly due to the fleeting imperial ideas that...
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...genome project is boarder line of scientist trying to imitate God and his marvelous works. (Davies, Kevin. cracking the genome: inside the race to unlock human dna. New York: free press, 2001) Eradicating diseases are much needed and can prove to be very helpful through research, however I think genetics where meant to be passed from generation to generation. The term positive eugenics is an oxymoron; it somehow seems that these two words collide with each other as if they do not fit. However, negative genetic engineering consists of justifying or taking out genes to stop or take care of genetic disease. It is difficult to think that humans could perhaps control reproduction and decide on offspring in a way that will be moral for society as a whole, one has to believe that this person or persons who think this is proper to attempt has no reference of who God really is. The word eugenics was invented by Francis Galton in 1833, at this point being in its very basic form of concept. Eugenics refers to practices designed to improve the genetic makeup of the human race. (Jones, G. 1982. "Eugenics and Social Policy Between the Wars," History...
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...During the eugenic movement there were internal concerns about criminals, insane, feeble mindedness, alcoholics, paupers, derelicts, delinquents, orphans, prostitutes and those unable to support themselves. These traits were considered to be hereditary defects that cannot be eliminated by environmental procedures. Many studies supported and illustrated the use of sterilisation as negative eugenics such as the Juke family published in 1875 and the Kallikak family in 1912 where one or more members of the family were considered to be unfit. In 1907 Indiana was the first state to pass involuntary- sterilisation based on the eugenic ideologies of the unfit. By 1931, 30 states had passed this law. As the concept of the “unfit” was subjective and...
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...Outline + References Sociology 210 Research Paper Draft Conflict Theory and the Evolution of Eugenics in America during the 20th Century. I intend to present a purely informative paper on the sociological perspective of eugenics during the past century in the United States through Conflict Theory. A linear history of causality, implementation, and significance. 1. Conflict Theory Perspective a. Margaret Sanger b. Plato’s Republic c. Negative Eugenics d. Sterilization e. Planned Parenthood Federation of America f. Legislation g. Economic Implications Early 1900’s American political movement under Margaret Sanger 1. advocate the control over individual rights to reproduction 2. purpose of societal advantage 3. rights governed by the state and supported by a public majority 4. originally designed as a method of public oppression and controlled persecution. 5. Sanger an outspoken advocate for Eugenics a. racial dominance, class restraint, and a member of the American Eugenic Political Party, opened a family planning and birth control clinic. 6. Established first Abortion Clinics in NY b. On October 16, 1916, a member of the Eugenic party movement opened a then privately funded business, now partly funded by the public, in New York City. 7. clinic’s policy on providing pregnancy termination to the impoverished and uneducated. 8. The Birth Control Review and Birth Control...
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...Eugenics: Health Benefits 1 Running Head: EUGENICS: HEALTH BENEFITS AND THE FUTURE Eugenics: Health Benefits and the Future Abstract The study of eugenics is propelling the world quickly into the future. Eugenics is the study of genetically engineering enhanced humans. This genetic engineering is done through modification of certain traits on an embryonic level, to create a heritable trait. Once modified, these traits will be passed on to the offspring of this individual, as well as demonstrated in that particular individual. The traits that can be modified are as simple as hair color, eye color, skin color, ability to grow muscle mass, body build, etc. They can be as complex as prevention of cancer and other gene-based diseases. Gene modification to create enhanced humans is an evolutionary necessity. In the day and age where the aspects of oneself can be modified with enough money or enough time, it is only natural that society would progress to the point where they would want to modify their offspring. The prospect of eugenics (literally, "well born") is not new, it spans back to the 1800's, when Sir Francis Galton created the word to define the basis for inheritance of intellect. He theorized that through the process of uncontrolled breeding, the unintelligent were outweighing the intelligent. Galton was not too far off according to movies such as Idiocracy, where the world becomes exclusively populated by morons...
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...Eugenics literally means “good birth,” and it seeks to improve the human gene pool. In this modern age, many people are no longer afraid of eugenics. Up to now, reports of this research have highlighted its potential for creating gametes for infertile men and women. Taking a peek into the future, an Australian bioethicist, Robert Sparrow, writes in the Journal of Medical Ethics that it will be possible to use stem cell technology to breed better humans in labs. He says that it is not too early to launch a debate about what he calls “in vitro eugenics.” Dr Sparrow set himself the task of describing the opportunities and obstacles that this technology would face, rather than a thorough ethical critique. However, he does mention a number of ethical considerations. On the plus side, it would be possible to eugenically enhance people without asking them to choose particular partners or to gestate numerous experimental embryos. On the minus side, the people who result from the procedure would be “orphaned at conception”. With each generation they would be more distant from their forebears. This paper will seek to address some ethical considerations raised by the above article. There is no doubt that this technology could be extremely useful for preventing diseases such as cancer and others before we are even born. But, with this also comes the ability to give children genes before their born that will give them talent to run faster, jump higher, use more of their brain which will...
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...persons were considered for sterilization. The thought was that by sterilizing the ‘unfit’ and the minorities, the worst genes would be eliminated, therefore only the best genes would reproduce. Focusing my research between the years 1869-1974, this paper will investigate the birth of eugenics and Michigan's adoption of the science, which resulted in the massive human rights violations of the states 3,786 residents. This paper will provide the answer to, why was eugenic sterilization such a commonly accepted science in Michigan during the early 1900’s until the sterilization law was repealed in the 1974? My research will show that eugenic sterilization, although heinous in nature, was justified by Michigan scientists and residents a like by claims of a more humane society and was thought to be the saving grace of mankind. Eugenics is a word derived from Greek meaning "well born" and was formulated by British scientist Francis Galton, cousin of Charles Darwin, after an 1869 study which stemmed from his cousins idea of better evolution. This work concluded that heredity was the sole factor in a persons make up—all things good and bad, anywhere from intellect to deformations. The definition of eugenics given by Galton was "The study of the agencies under social control that may improve or impair the racial qualities of future generations either physically or mentally." With concerns of how our world would end up if reproduction remained the same, he encouraged only the most intelligent...
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...Genetic engineering as the direct transfer of changing DNA from one organism to another first happened in 1973 by Herbert Byer and Stanley Cohen (Wahlberg, “Raises Ethical Question”). Genetic engineering is a newer scientific technique that used to be impossible to even think about. This science is used for alterations to plants, animals, and sometime in the future humans too. Some of the uses are alright, but performing genetic engineering on humans should never happen. Genetic engineering was once difficult, if not impossible to use because scientists lacked certain technology to achieve it, but recently more has been learned about this futuristic technique. Webster’s dictionary defines genetic engineering as a science of making changes...
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...Eugenics focuses on the unique inborn mental and physical qualities of groups and the factors that influenced the full development of those qualities within a society. Eugenics can be considered the science of promoting good births within a society rather than in humanity, because the concept of good birth varies from society to society. The qualities of individuals in a group are acquired, it was believed, from a common ancestor who possessed unique inborn mental and physical qualities that were passed from generation to generation. Genetics and heredity are the basic building blocks of eugenics but rapid industrialization, urbanization, intense growth of American industry, agricultural mechanization, and widespread immigration all played roles too. The cities and population growing without enough adequate housing were some factors that led to the practice of eugenics. Carrie Buck was committed to the Virginia Colony for Epileptics and Feeble Minded in Lynchburg, Virginia. Carrie and her mother were judged to be "feebleminded" and promiscuous, primarily because they had both had borne children out of wedlock. Carrie's child was also judged to be "feebleminded" at seven months of age! Three generations of "imbeciles" became the "perfect" family for Virginia officials to use as a test case in favor of the eugenic sterilization law enacted. In 1924 the Supreme Court concurred "that Carrie Buck is the probable potential parent of socially inadequate offspring, likewise afflicted...
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...By definiton, eugenics is "the science of improving a human population by controlled breeding to increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics." Miriam Webster dictionary. Eugenics came to exist back in Nazi Germany and was majorly developed by one Francis Galton. The idea was to create a "superior race" known as the Aryan race. The Aryan race had very set specifications, blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin. During that time, eugenics was mainly achived by selective breeding, meaning that individuals would reproduce with other individuals who fufilled the Aryan requirements. Today, in the 21st century, eugenics is more scientific. In 2003, scientists finished mapping out the human genome- a blueprint for the human race. The practice was first introduced to the USA in 2009 at a fertility clinic in Los Angeles, California. The clinic tried to offer hair and eye colour choices to prospective parents. This attempt caused a lot of public back lash. The process takes place by collecting eggs from the mother which are then fertilized in vitro with the father's sperm. After a successful fertilization, many genetic tests, called pre-implantion genetic diagnosis or PGD, are run to determine if the embryo has any defects such as down syndrome, heart issues, spina bifada, deafness and blindness. If the embryos pass this stage, they go into more indepth and specific tests. The parents set out a list of desirable and undesirable characteristics such as hair colour, eye colour...
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...(c) Playing God: Another area of concern, is whether we are playing “God” with human evolution. (Cite – Pro/Con) The notion being science should be left out of childbirth, childbirth is a natural event and has been from the beginning of time. While this may true and childbirth should not be left to science, science is sometimes necessary to intervene when it comes to natural events. “People say we should not go against nature, but that’s illogical because every time we cure a disease we go against nature” (Schishor, Simonet, Canaon) Just because an event is natural or unnatural does not make it right or wrong, rather, the purpose behind the intervention should be the focus. (b) Social Fears: The most problematic social concern opponents...
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