Biology as a Technology of Social Justice in Interwar Britain
Arguments from Evolutionary History, Heredity, and Human Diversity
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5338314 |
|---|---|
| Authors | M Sommer (0000-0001-7958-2901, University of Lucerne, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 561-586 |
| Publication date | 2014-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Science Technology & Human Values (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0162-2439 • E-ISSN: 1552-8251 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0162243913520330 |
| OpenAlex | W2018486488 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 20 |
In this article, I am concerned with the public engagements of Julian Huxley, Lancelot Hogben, and J. B. S. Haldane. I analyze how they used the new insights into the genetics of heredity to argue against any biological foundations for antidemocratic ideologies, be it Nazism, Stalinism, or the British laissez-faire and class system. The most striking fact-considering the abuse of biological knowledge they contested-is that these biologists presented genetics itself as inherently democratic. Arguing from genetics, they developed an understanding of diversity that cuts across divisions of race, class, or gender. Human diversity rightly understood was advantageous for societal progress. Huxley, Hogben, and Haldane did not hold identical political ideals, but they all argued for democratic reforms and increased planning geared toward greater social equality, and they did so under the label of scientific humanism. Huxley took issue with the notion that evolutionary history does not carry any moral lessons for human societies. Rather than being its antithesis, evolution was the basis of human sociality. In fact, the entire future progress of individuals and communities toward a democratic world order needed to be founded on the cosmic principles of evolution-a process that had to be guided by the biological expert with a strong sense of social responsibility
Democracy · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Ideology · Political science · Politics · Social Darwinism · Social science · Sociology · Anthropology · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · Law · Philosophy and History of Science · Race, Genetics, and Society
Moving Noblesse Oblige toward Social Justice during Interwar Britain
Robert Kirk
The “tribal spirit” in modern Britain
Expectation and futurity
Population-genetic trees, maps, and narratives of the great human diasporas
What Is Race? Unesco, mass communication and human genetics in the early 1950s
Morals can not be drawn from facts but guidance may be’
| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,64 |
| Citation span | 2015 - 2025 (11) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |