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Eugenics and Other Evils

G. K. Chesterton

The book discusses the eugenics movement, its philosophical implications, and the dangers it poses to individual freedoms, morality, and societal structure.

"Eugenics and Other Evils" by G. K. Chesterton is a critical essay. The book discusses the eugenics movement, its philosophical implications, and the dangers it poses to individual freedoms, morality, and societal structure.

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I publish these essays at the present time for a particular reason connected with the present situation; a reason which I should like briefly to emphasise and make clear.

Though most of the conclusions, especially towards the end, are conceived with reference to recent events, the actual bulk of preliminary notes about the science of Eugenics were written before the war. It was a time when this theme was the topic of the hour; when eugenic babies (not visibly very distinguishable from other babies) sprawled all over the illustrated papers; when the evolutionary fancy of Nietzsche was the new cry among the intellectuals; and when Mr. Bernard Shaw and others were considering the idea that to breed a man like a cart-horse was the true way to attain that higher civilisation, of intellectual magnanimity and sympathetic insight, which may be found in cart-horses. It may therefore appear that I took the opinion too controversially, and it seems to me that I sometimes took it too seriously. But the criticism of Eugenics soon expanded of itself into a more general criticism of a modern craze for scientific officialism and strict social organisation.

Contents

  1. 01To the Reader
  2. 02Contents
  3. 03Part I
  4. 04The False THEORYToC
  5. 05Eugenics and Other Evils
  6. 06Chapter IToC
  7. 07What Is Eugenics?
  8. 08Chapter IIToC
  9. 09The First Obstacles
  10. 10Chapter IIIToC
  11. 11The Anarchy from Above
  12. 12Chapter IVToC
  13. 13The Lunatic and the Law
  14. 14Chapter VToC
  15. 15The Flying Authority
  16. 16Chapter VIToC
  17. 17The Unanswered Challenge
  18. 18Chapter VIIToC
  19. 19The Established Church of Doubt
  20. 20Chapter VIIIToC
  21. 21A Summary of a False Theory
  22. 22Part II
  23. 23The Real AIMToC
  24. 24Chapter IToC
  25. 25The Impotence of Impenitence
  26. 26Chapter IIToC
  27. 27True History of a Tramp
  28. 28Chapter IIIToC
  29. 29True History of a Eugenist
  30. 30Chapter IVToC
  31. 31The Vengeance of the Flesh
  32. 32Chapter VToC
  33. 33The Meanness of the Motive
  34. 34Chapter VIToC
  35. 35The Eclipse of Liberty
  36. 36Chapter VIIToC
  37. 37The Transformation of Socialism
  38. 38Chapter VIIIToC
  39. 39The End of the Household Gods
  40. 40Chapter IXToC
  41. 41A Short Chapter
  42. 42INDEXToC
  43. 43Printed in England by Cassell & Company, Limited, London, E.c.4.

About this edition

Author
G. K. Chesterton
Era
Modern (c. 1800–1945)
Reading level
Advanced: for close, demanding reading
Formats
EPUB, PDF
Length
99 pages
This edition
Modern Philosophers