Eugenics and Other Evils: On Socialism, Science and the Creation of a Master Race

During the first three decades of the twentieth century, eugenics, the scientific control of human breeding, was a popular cause within enlightened and progressive segments of the English-speaking world. The New York Times eagerly supported it, gushing about the wonderful "new science." Prominent scientists, such as the plant biologist Luther Burbank, were among its most enthusiastic supporters. And the Carnegie and Rockefeller foundations generously funded eugenic research intended to distinguish the 'fit' from the 'unfit.’

This prophetic volume counters the intellectual nihilism of Nietzsche, while simultaneously rebuking Western notions of progress—biological or otherwise. Chesterton expands his criticism of eugenics into what he calls “a more general criticism of the modern craze for scientific officialism and strict social organization.”

Table of Contents

TO THE READER

PART I

Chapter I What Is Eugenics?

Chapter II The First Obstacles

Chapter III The Anarchy From Above

Chapter IV The Lunatic and the Law

Chapter V The Flying Authority

Chapter VI The Unanswered Challenge

Chapter VII The Established Church Of Doubt

Chapter VIII A Summary Of A False Theory

PART II

THE REAL AIM

Chapter I The Impotence Of Impenitence

Chapter II True History of a Tramp Chapter III True History of a Eugenist

Chapter IV The Vengeance of the Flesh

Chapter V The Meanness of the Motive

Chapter VI The Eclipse of Liberty

Chapter VII The Transformation of Socialism

Chapter VIII The End of the Household Gods

Chapter IX A Short Chapter