The Legacy of Eugenics

Abstract: This panel will consider the legacy of eugenics, and its implications in the allied health professions, research and public health genetics, and reprogenetic technologies. The first panelist, a psychiatry resident, will speak about the role of psychiatry in the history of the eugenics movement. The physicians involved believed their actions were morally justified and promoting the public good. Understanding the history and progression of these beliefs serves as an example and warning to the dangers of eugenic reasoning. The second panelist, a philosopher with experience at the intersection of race and genetics, will examine the legacy of eugenics and scientific racism in public health, particularly in relation to genetic testing and research programs. Using examples of different historical genetic testing and research programs, she will illustrate how the “remainders” of those programs and the ideas that shaped them inform contemporary work. The third panelist, a philosopher who has done a significant amount of work on ethical issues related to reprogenetic technologies, will call attention to the value-laddennes of these technologies. In her presentation, she will show that liberal eugenic proponents who argue that these technologies do not share the immoral characteristics of past eugenic practices presuppose an implausible conception of technologies as value-neutral. Rejecting such value-neutrality is necessary both to ensure an accurate description of these technologies and to unveil, critically analyze, and transform the eugenic values that shape and are shaped by reprogenetic technologies.

Keywords: Physician’s role in eugenics, Legacy of eugenics and scientific racism in public health, Eugenic values in reprogenetic technologies