sorts of people
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Encyc - Eugenics Archives
Ro ert A. Wil on
ugenic idea , law , and policie were often ca t explicitl in term of a per on’ having certain kind of ociall unde ira le propertie , uch a fee le-mindedne , mental deficienc , or p cho i . For example, in the econd amendment to the exual terilization Act of Al erta (1942), per on with neuro philli , epilep , and Huntington’ di ea e came to e included among t tho e u ject to eugenic terilization in the province. However, in practice eugenic ha operated in oth popular culture and in cience in term of the corre ponding ort or kind of people: the fee leminded, the mentall deficient, and p chotic . One ma wonder a out the ignificance of thi perhap innocent-looking hift from talk of people with certain propertie to ort of people, e peciall in reflecting on the re urgence of eugenic thinking in contemporar context . What role doe di tingui hing etween variou ort of people, and attaching a differential value to tho e ort of people, pla in oth the hi tor of eugenic and it contemporar aftermath? Human Variation and ort of People Thinking of there eing di tinctive ort of people i one re pon e to the perception of human variation. Thi re pon e, however, wa not new with eugenic in the nineteenth-centur . In fact, thinking a out mem er of our pecie in term of variou ort or kind can e found in ancient http://eugenicsarchive.ca/discover/encyclopedia/535eee527095aa000000025c
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civilization and i often ound up with the ver idea of what it i to e human. Man ocietie , including tho e of ancient China and ancient Greece, refer to them elve with term that are a ociated with full humanit , wherea the refer to people from alien culture and di tant land with term that lack that a ociation. For example, “ ar arian ” for the ancient Greek were people who did not peak full human language, merel “ a- a”ing in tead. Thu , the idea of there eing different ort of people acro time and pace, not all of whom are valued equall , i man thou and of ear old (Llo d, 2012). We can approach the eugenic development of thi appeal to ort or kind of people reflecting a little further on the nature of human variation. Human eing var in an unlimited num er of wa . People have different height and weight , different hair and e e colour, and different ph ical and mental a ilitie . ome variation, uch a that with re pect to height and weight, i continuou : the var ing characteri tic or propert exi t on a continuum. Other variation, uch a that with re pect to hair and e e colour, i di crete, or at lea t i u uall thought of a uch: there are a relativel mall num er of categorie u ed to cla if the variation here, uch a londe, rown, lack , or red (for hair colour), or lue, rown, or green (for e e colour). oth continuou and di crete variation can e the a i for di tingui hing etween ort of people, uch a when we di tingui h tall from hort people, or, moving to categorie that wear their evaluative dimen ion more clearl on their leeve, when we di tingui h fat from kinn people. ome of thi variation matter more to u than doe other variation. For example, variation with re pect to kin colour, language poken, and cultural practice and affiliation have een highl alient in human hi tor . The have een the a i not impl for di tingui hing etween ort of people on http://eugenicsarchive.ca/discover/encyclopedia/535eee527095aa000000025c
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Encyc - Eugenics Archives
the a i of race and culture, ut for the differential and often di criminator treatment of the re ulting different ort of people. ugenic Policie and Law and ort of People Race and ethnicit them elve have pla ed a direct role in the hi tor of eugenic , with ome “race ” deemed to e inferior in variou wa to other . Thu uch le er ort of people were u ject to re trictive immigration and eliminative terilization policie that formed part of the late nineteenth- and earl -twentieth-centur eugenic movement. ugenic terilization law them elve were mo t often expre ed, however, in term of categorie centered on the mental a ilitie that people po e ed, including tho e of fee lemindedne and mental deficienc . ugenic policie and law here traddled ever da , “folk” categorie and categorie for cla if ing ort of people that were the re ult of cientific practice. For example, “idiot ”, “im ecile ” and “moron ” were ort of people who were characterized in term of their level of putative mental deficienc , where that level corre ponded to the IQ core tho e people gained on one or more tandardized p chological te t . The kind of thinking that drove eugenic famil tudie , uch a tho e of “The Juke ” and “The Nam ”, al o utilized folk categorie of people, uch a pauper , criminal , and the exuall promi cuou , to pick out ort of people who e continuing famil lineage wa viewed a contri uting ignificantl to ongoing ocial pro lem re olva le eugenic intervention (Rafter, 1988). Like eget Like, Heredit , and ugenic Toda An important thread to eugenic thinking a out ort of people i the idea that “like eget like”: that the children of people of a certain ort will al o e of that ort. While thi wa under tood in hereditarian term a eugenic appealed to the emerging iological cience (e.g., of genetic ) from the earl part of the twentieth-centur , the role of hereditarian thinking in http://eugenicsarchive.ca/discover/encyclopedia/535eee527095aa000000025c
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eugenic i complicated. Nineteenth-centur eugenic operated without ignificant iological knowledge of heredit . Furthermore, tho e who acknowledge a ignificant role for environmental circum tance in contri uting to the production of a given trait or characteri tic can till pre ent the eugenic haping of future population a omething de ira le. Indeed, that i preci el what one find in the contemporar ioethic literature advocating “li eral eugenic ” (Agar, 2004; Kitcher, 2003) and variou principle governing parenting that are viewed a eeking to minimize di a ilit ( avule cu, 2001; avule cu & Kahane, 2008). Are there ort of People? The roader metaph ical i ue of whether an ort of people “are real” might u efull e located a part of the general i ue of the realit of kind . Proponent of reali m a out kind hold that the world i naturall divided into di tinct kind of thing , and our ta k i (to u e a metaphor in pired Plato) to “carve nature at it joint ”. For example, ox gen and nitrogen are real kind of chemical element , each with di tinctive clu ter of propertie and ehaviour , and the ta k of chemi tr , in part, i to accuratel characterize tho e propertie and ehaviour . Proponent of nominali m, contra t, hold that realit i differentiated onl with the gentle (or not o gentle) touch of the human mind; ocial con tructivi m i a variant of thi view that empha ize the role of human in titution and practice in thi proce . One might rea ona l hold that reali t view of ort of people have een di credited the hi tor of eugenic . After all, the ort of people articulated within the eugenic movement are no longer taken to e part of the fa ric of the world, and a a i for ocial polic and legi lation. Yet appeal to ort of people—to the everel cognitivel di a led, to chizophrenic , to children with Down ndrome—where the people http://eugenicsarchive.ca/discover/encyclopedia/535eee527095aa000000025c
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Encyc - Eugenics Archives
referred to are man of the ame ort of individual who were the target of eugenic practice and policie , continue to animate contemporar di cu ion of per on , parent with di a ilitie , and reproductive right in wa that are often continuou with the eugenic pa t. Cite thi document (APA): Wil on, R. (2014, April 29). ort of people. Retrieved Augu t 22, 2016, from http://eugenic archive.ca/di cover/enc clopedia/535eee527095aa000000025c
Reference Agar, N. (2004). Li eral ugenic : In Defence of Human nhancement. New York: lackwell. Kitcher, P. (2003). Utopian ugenic and ocial Inequalit . In In Mendel’ Mirror: Philo ophical Reflection on iolog (pp. 258-282). New York: Oxford Univer it Pre . Llo d, G. .R. (2012). eing, Humanit , and Under tanding. New York: Oxford Univer it Pre . Rafter, N. ( d.). (1988). White Tra h: The ugenic Famil tudie , 1877-1919. o ton, MA: Northea tern Univer it Pre . avule cu, J. (2001). Procreative eneficence: Wh We hould elect the e t Children. ioethic , 15 (5/6), pp.413-426. avule cu, J., & Kahane, G. (2008). The Moral O ligation to Create Children with the e t Chance of the e t Life. ioethic , 23 (5), pp.274-290.
http://eugenicsarchive.ca/discover/encyclopedia/535eee527095aa000000025c
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Encyc - Eugenics Archives
Ro ert A. Wil on
ugenic idea , law , and policie were often ca t explicitl in term of a per on’ having certain kind of ociall unde ira le propertie , uch a fee le-mindedne , mental deficienc , or p cho i . For example, in the econd amendment to the exual terilization Act of Al erta (1942), per on with neuro philli , epilep , and Huntington’ di ea e came to e included among t tho e u ject to eugenic terilization in the province. However, in practice eugenic ha operated in oth popular culture and in cience in term of the corre ponding ort or kind of people: the fee leminded, the mentall deficient, and p chotic . One ma wonder a out the ignificance of thi perhap innocent-looking hift from talk of people with certain propertie to ort of people, e peciall in reflecting on the re urgence of eugenic thinking in contemporar context . What role doe di tingui hing etween variou ort of people, and attaching a differential value to tho e ort of people, pla in oth the hi tor of eugenic and it contemporar aftermath? Human Variation and ort of People Thinking of there eing di tinctive ort of people i one re pon e to the perception of human variation. Thi re pon e, however, wa not new with eugenic in the nineteenth-centur . In fact, thinking a out mem er of our pecie in term of variou ort or kind can e found in ancient http://eugenicsarchive.ca/discover/encyclopedia/535eee527095aa000000025c
1/5
8/21/2016
Encyc - Eugenics Archives
civilization and i often ound up with the ver idea of what it i to e human. Man ocietie , including tho e of ancient China and ancient Greece, refer to them elve with term that are a ociated with full humanit , wherea the refer to people from alien culture and di tant land with term that lack that a ociation. For example, “ ar arian ” for the ancient Greek were people who did not peak full human language, merel “ a- a”ing in tead. Thu , the idea of there eing different ort of people acro time and pace, not all of whom are valued equall , i man thou and of ear old (Llo d, 2012). We can approach the eugenic development of thi appeal to ort or kind of people reflecting a little further on the nature of human variation. Human eing var in an unlimited num er of wa . People have different height and weight , different hair and e e colour, and different ph ical and mental a ilitie . ome variation, uch a that with re pect to height and weight, i continuou : the var ing characteri tic or propert exi t on a continuum. Other variation, uch a that with re pect to hair and e e colour, i di crete, or at lea t i u uall thought of a uch: there are a relativel mall num er of categorie u ed to cla if the variation here, uch a londe, rown, lack , or red (for hair colour), or lue, rown, or green (for e e colour). oth continuou and di crete variation can e the a i for di tingui hing etween ort of people, uch a when we di tingui h tall from hort people, or, moving to categorie that wear their evaluative dimen ion more clearl on their leeve, when we di tingui h fat from kinn people. ome of thi variation matter more to u than doe other variation. For example, variation with re pect to kin colour, language poken, and cultural practice and affiliation have een highl alient in human hi tor . The have een the a i not impl for di tingui hing etween ort of people on http://eugenicsarchive.ca/discover/encyclopedia/535eee527095aa000000025c
2/5
8/21/2016
Encyc - Eugenics Archives
the a i of race and culture, ut for the differential and often di criminator treatment of the re ulting different ort of people. ugenic Policie and Law and ort of People Race and ethnicit them elve have pla ed a direct role in the hi tor of eugenic , with ome “race ” deemed to e inferior in variou wa to other . Thu uch le er ort of people were u ject to re trictive immigration and eliminative terilization policie that formed part of the late nineteenth- and earl -twentieth-centur eugenic movement. ugenic terilization law them elve were mo t often expre ed, however, in term of categorie centered on the mental a ilitie that people po e ed, including tho e of fee lemindedne and mental deficienc . ugenic policie and law here traddled ever da , “folk” categorie and categorie for cla if ing ort of people that were the re ult of cientific practice. For example, “idiot ”, “im ecile ” and “moron ” were ort of people who were characterized in term of their level of putative mental deficienc , where that level corre ponded to the IQ core tho e people gained on one or more tandardized p chological te t . The kind of thinking that drove eugenic famil tudie , uch a tho e of “The Juke ” and “The Nam ”, al o utilized folk categorie of people, uch a pauper , criminal , and the exuall promi cuou , to pick out ort of people who e continuing famil lineage wa viewed a contri uting ignificantl to ongoing ocial pro lem re olva le eugenic intervention (Rafter, 1988). Like eget Like, Heredit , and ugenic Toda An important thread to eugenic thinking a out ort of people i the idea that “like eget like”: that the children of people of a certain ort will al o e of that ort. While thi wa under tood in hereditarian term a eugenic appealed to the emerging iological cience (e.g., of genetic ) from the earl part of the twentieth-centur , the role of hereditarian thinking in http://eugenicsarchive.ca/discover/encyclopedia/535eee527095aa000000025c
3/5
8/21/2016
Encyc - Eugenics Archives
eugenic i complicated. Nineteenth-centur eugenic operated without ignificant iological knowledge of heredit . Furthermore, tho e who acknowledge a ignificant role for environmental circum tance in contri uting to the production of a given trait or characteri tic can till pre ent the eugenic haping of future population a omething de ira le. Indeed, that i preci el what one find in the contemporar ioethic literature advocating “li eral eugenic ” (Agar, 2004; Kitcher, 2003) and variou principle governing parenting that are viewed a eeking to minimize di a ilit ( avule cu, 2001; avule cu & Kahane, 2008). Are there ort of People? The roader metaph ical i ue of whether an ort of people “are real” might u efull e located a part of the general i ue of the realit of kind . Proponent of reali m a out kind hold that the world i naturall divided into di tinct kind of thing , and our ta k i (to u e a metaphor in pired Plato) to “carve nature at it joint ”. For example, ox gen and nitrogen are real kind of chemical element , each with di tinctive clu ter of propertie and ehaviour , and the ta k of chemi tr , in part, i to accuratel characterize tho e propertie and ehaviour . Proponent of nominali m, contra t, hold that realit i differentiated onl with the gentle (or not o gentle) touch of the human mind; ocial con tructivi m i a variant of thi view that empha ize the role of human in titution and practice in thi proce . One might rea ona l hold that reali t view of ort of people have een di credited the hi tor of eugenic . After all, the ort of people articulated within the eugenic movement are no longer taken to e part of the fa ric of the world, and a a i for ocial polic and legi lation. Yet appeal to ort of people—to the everel cognitivel di a led, to chizophrenic , to children with Down ndrome—where the people http://eugenicsarchive.ca/discover/encyclopedia/535eee527095aa000000025c
4/5
8/21/2016
Encyc - Eugenics Archives
referred to are man of the ame ort of individual who were the target of eugenic practice and policie , continue to animate contemporar di cu ion of per on , parent with di a ilitie , and reproductive right in wa that are often continuou with the eugenic pa t. Cite thi document (APA): Wil on, R. (2014, April 29). ort of people. Retrieved Augu t 22, 2016, from http://eugenic archive.ca/di cover/enc clopedia/535eee527095aa000000025c
Reference Agar, N. (2004). Li eral ugenic : In Defence of Human nhancement. New York: lackwell. Kitcher, P. (2003). Utopian ugenic and ocial Inequalit . In In Mendel’ Mirror: Philo ophical Reflection on iolog (pp. 258-282). New York: Oxford Univer it Pre . Llo d, G. .R. (2012). eing, Humanit , and Under tanding. New York: Oxford Univer it Pre . Rafter, N. ( d.). (1988). White Tra h: The ugenic Famil tudie , 1877-1919. o ton, MA: Northea tern Univer it Pre . avule cu, J. (2001). Procreative eneficence: Wh We hould elect the e t Children. ioethic , 15 (5/6), pp.413-426. avule cu, J., & Kahane, G. (2008). The Moral O ligation to Create Children with the e t Chance of the e t Life. ioethic , 23 (5), pp.274-290.
http://eugenicsarchive.ca/discover/encyclopedia/535eee527095aa000000025c
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