ID# 1837:
"Eugenics and Society" (The Galton Lecture given to the Eugenics Society), by Julian S. Huxley, Eugenics Review (vol 28:1)
Date:
1936
Pages: (1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12|13|14|15|16|17|18|19|20|21)
Source:
Cold Spring Harbor, ERO, The Eugenics Review, 28

&quote;Eugenics and Society&quote; (The Galton Lecture given to the Eugenics Society), by Julian S. Huxley, Eugenics Review (vol 28:1)

Eugenics and Society 25 Possible to state the sort of optimum which would commend itself to the mass of what we may call "men of goodwill." It would, I take it, be a social environment which gave the opportunity, first of work which was not excessive, which was felt to be useful, and whose rewards would provide not only the necessities but a reasonable supply of the comforts and amenities of life: secondly, of a reasonable amount of leisure: thirdly, the opportunity to everyone of expressing whatever gifts of body and mind they might possess, in athletics or sport; in art, science or literature, passive or actively enjoyed; in travel or politics, in individual hobbies or in social service. If so, then we should plan a eugenic programme with a single and very high standard. We should aim at a high level of inherent physical fitness, endurance and general intelligence; and we should encourage the breeding of special talent of any and every sort, for mathematical as much as for business success, artistic as much as administrative. We should realize that, if we succeeded, our genetic results would over a great range of the population be out of harmony with their social surroundings, and would either be wasted or lead to friction and discontent, or might express themselves in characters such as neurosis or a sense of maladjustment which would represent a lower level than that from which we started. For ultimate success we should rely on creating a demand for changing the environment towards our optimum. The supply of genetic types which could only reach proper expression in such an environment would help to create the demand; the friction and discontent would add themselves to the forces of change. [italics]Simultaneous Control of Heredity and Environment[end italics] It will, however, by now have become clear that neither of these approaches is so satisfactory as the third. Indeed, neither is methodologically sound. If the aim of eugenics be to control the evolution of the human species and guide it in a desirable direction, and if the genetic selection should always be practised in relation to an appropriate environment, then it is an unscientific and wasteful procedure not to attempt to control environment at the same time as genetic quality. Science is simultaneously both theory and practice, both knowledge and control. For the applied science of eugenics to neglect the environment is a source both of confusion and of practical weakness. I would go farther: I would say that we cannot succeed in achieving anything in the nature of adequate positive eugenics unless we attempt the control of the social environment simultaneously with the control of the human germ-plasm, any more than Stapledon could have improved his rough mountain grazings save by a similar double attack. Lete us then look more in detail into this third or dual method of approach. It has two facets, theoretical and practical. On the theoretical side, we shall only progress in our attempt to disentangle the effects of nature from those of nurture in so far as we follow the footsteps of the geneticist and equalize environment. We shall never be able to do this in the same radical way as the pure scientist, by testing out a whole range of controlled and equalized environments on selected stocks. We must therefore concentrate on producing a single equalized environment; and this clearly should be one as favourable as possible to the expression of the genetic qualities that we think desirable. Equally clearly, this should include the following items. A marked raising of the standard of diet for the great majority of the population, until all should be provided both with adequate calories and adequate accessory factors; provision of facilities for healthy exercise and recreation; and upward equalization of educational opportunity. The further we move in this direction, the more readily shall we be able to distinguish inherent physical and mental defects from environmental stunting and frustration; the higher we raise the average, the more certain shall we be that physical or mental performance above the average is dependent upon genetic endowment and therefore provides the raw material for [end]

Copyright 1999-2004: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory; American Philosophical Society; Truman State University; Rockefeller Archive Center/Rockefeller University; University of Albany, State University of New York; National Park Service, Statue of Liberty National Monument; University College, London; International Center of Photography; Archiv zur Geschichte der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Berlin-Dahlem; and Special Collections, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
The images and text in this Archive are solely for educational and scholarly uses. The materials may be used in digital or print form in reports, research, and other projects that are not offered for sale. Materials in this archive may not be used in digital or print form by organizations or commercial concerns, except with express permission.