Eugenics

Eugenics can be defined as an effort to selectively improve human hereditary traits through encouraging the reproduction of those possessing desirable genes and, conversely, restricting reproduction among individuals whose genetic makeup is considered undesirable. A more inclusive definition would also interpret this practice as a social, political, and economic philosophy, one perhaps most graphically illustrated by the rise of Nazism and the mass exterminations committed by the Third Reich. However, the genesis of this ideology can be ascribed to the preeminent scientific and philosophical minds of the 18th and 19th centuries. Its perpetuation in contemporary Western society is manifest in the practice of choosing the sex of an unborn child. The potential for eye color, hair color, athletic prowess, musical ability, and superior cognitive capacity ...