The word “eugenics” has come to be
almost exclusively associated with Hitler’s pogrom against the Jews. Indeed, to characterize a theory as
pertaining to eugenics is to condemn that theory in the strongest ethical terms
as discriminatory and elitist. In
consequence, the word has largely disappeared from the vocabulary of legitimate
scientific inquiry – despite the fact that much of what people hope to achieve
through the Human Genome Project is fairly characterized as involving the sort
of genetic manipulation that falls within the domain of “eugenics” (absent the
normative connotations).

David Galton’s In Our Own Image is a useful attempt to come to grips with the
difficult history, science, and ethics of eugenics. Much of the book is concerned to acquaint the layreader with the
science of eugenics. Chapter 2
explains, in a very accessible way, the biological structure and operations of
DNA and the causes of the genetic mutations that can either result in
debilitating disease or ultimately make the species as a whole better able to
thrive in its environment. Chapters 3
and 4 discuss various ways in which a child’s genetic make-up can now be
manipulated. These methods range from
pre-implantation genetic examinations of “test-tube embryos” for harmful
genetic mutations to rapidly advancing technologies that indicate the
possibility of cloning human beings for reproductive and therapeutic
purposes.

Somewhat oddly placed, the last
three chapters in the book also discuss some of the underlying scientific
issues. Chapter 11 considers the extent
to which certain diseases may have genetic causes. Chapter 12 discusses the extent to which various diseases can be
inherited; Galton considers, among other health problems, heart attacks, raised
blood fats, diabetes, dementia, and various forms of cancer. Chapter 13 offers a fascinating analysis of
the role of genes in the development of such personality characteristics as
sexual preference, intelligence, and anxiety and depressive mood disorders.

Despite his apparent enthusiasm for
eugenic technologies, Galton is well aware of the very grave dangers that such
technology poses. Chapter 5 discusses
the terrible influence of Francis Galton’s (no relation to the author)
controversial proposals for improving the stock of inherited traits in human
beings. The discussion of the various
ways in which these ideas have been applied is chillingly effective. For example, sterilization programs, though
largely associated with the Nazis, have also been implemented by such liberal
nations as Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden with predictably tragic results. After one young girl was sterilized, it was
determined that her poor academic performance was explained by her inability to
see the chalkboard – and not by subnormal intellectual ability. She was, in effect, sterilized because she
lacked proper glasses.

The next three chapters are concerned
with the social effects of what Galton calls the “new eugenics.” In Chapter 6, Galton points out that our
increasing ability to identify genetic dispositions to disease creates
unprecedented ethical dilemmas: “if one of an identical twin pair finds that he
is a carrier for a serious disease gene, does the other twin have a right to
know about this or is the information strictly confidential to the first twin”
(109)? In Chapter 7, Galton worries
about the potential effects of sex-selection technologies. As Galton points out, Chinese policies
favoring male children encourage parents to abort female children; the
predictable result is a population in which many men are condemned to perpetual
bachelorhood because of a shortage of females.

Chapter 8 is especially
interesting. In this chapter, Galton
describes some of the difficult regulative problems that are created by eugenic
technologies. Genetic screening tests,
for example, make it possible to deny employment and insurance coverage on the
basis of a person’s genetic profile. 
Though such practices are arguably unfair to the individuals, employers
and insurance companies, as Galton points out, can offer plausible reasons in
support of allowing such practices. 
Such difficulties are compounded by the fact that there will always be
plenty of opportunities for scientists to skirt the law: “[w]hen human cloning
was banned in the USA, laboratories there started to use empty (enucleated) egg
cells from a cow for transfer of a human nucleus to make cow-human hybrids”
(134).

The book is somewhat less
successful in directly engaging the ethical issues. Part of the problem is that, though he seems to reject ethical
relativism, Galton’s views often evince a deep-seated skepticism about the
character of morality. In discussing
whether Angela Carter made the right decision in refusing a Caesarian section
that would have saved both her life and her child’s life, Galton writes: “There
appears to be no ‘right’ judgment in this particular case. It just depends on which point of view you
take – the unborn child’s right to life or the mother’s right to make decisions
about her own pregnancy” (49). If,
however, Carter’s child has a right to life, then it seems pretty clearly to outweigh
the mother’s right to make decisions about her own pregnancy; after all, it is
uncontroversial that the right to life is the highest right in the moral
hierarchy. That is why the debate on
abortion has largely focused on the moral status of the fetus.

Even when he does take on the moral
issue, however, the results are somewhat unsatisfying. For example, he argues for the
permissibility of genetic manipulation in human reproduction as follows:
“Everywhere one looks in the biological world there is selection. Evolution is largely driven by natural
selection, so why should we not introduce a form of social selection as well”
(48)? This, of course, is no less
fallacious than arguing that rape is morally permissible on the strength of an
empirical argument that forced copulation commonly takes place in other
species. What occurs among beings that
are not moral agents tells us nothing about what moral agents should and
shouldn’t do.

However, this is a comparatively
minor complaint – and perhaps a little unfair given that Galton’s specialty is genetics
and not ethics. All things considered, In Our Own Image is an informative,
well-written examination of the issues and problems that arise in connection
with emerging eugenic technologies.

Note that In Our Own Image is
not currently available in the US, but is available in Canada
and the UK.

©
2002 Ken Himma

Ken Himma, Ph.D., University of
Washington, Seattle.

Categories: Genetics, Ethics