Eugenics is the practice or advocacy of improving the human species by selectively mating people with specific desirable hereditary traits. It aims to reduce human suffering by “breeding out” disease, disabilities and so-called undesirable characteristics from the human population.
What is eugenics in simple terms?
Eugenics is the selection of desired heritable characteristics in order to improve future generations, typically in reference to humans. The term eugenics was coined in the 1880s.
What is the problem with eugenics?
The most common arguments against any attempt to either avoid a trait through germline genetic engineering or to create more children with desired traits fall into three categories: worries about the presence of force or compulsion, the imposition of arbitrary standards of perfection,4 or inequities that might arise ...
