Galton’s ideas about eugenics in Hereditary Genius

Even though Galton did not receive a large response to Hereditary Talent and Character he continued his research in heredity and eugenics, leading to his first book on the subject: Hereditary Genius. Hereditary Talent and Character formed the basis for this book.161 The content of Hereditary Genius was very similar to Hereditary Talent and Character, and the goal of Hereditary Genius was mainly to elaborate on the idea of eugenics.

The title of the book refers to the idea that genius is inheritable. Galton’s thesis in Hereditary Genius was that ‘Hereditary Genius’ is genetically rather than environmentally determined.162 The first part of the book was devoted to ‘appropriate methods of classification and selection.’163

Galton examined obituaries to find his criterion of eminence, establishing that one in four-thousand people of the general population of middle age can be considered eminent.164 Galton rejected the belief that all people are born equal: ‘I have no patience with the hypothesis (…) that babies are born pretty much alike, and that the sole agencies in

creating differences between boy and boy, and man and man, are steady application and moral effort. It is in the most unqualified manner that I object to pretensions of natural equality. The experiences of the nursery, the school, the university, and of professional careers, are a chain of proofs to the contrary.’165

According to Galton, people all have a different level of

160

Galton, Hereditary genius. 2.

161

Forrest, Francis Galton, 85.

162 Ibidem, 88. 163 Ibidem. 164 Ibidem. 165 Ibidem, 14.

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intelligence. If people accept this fact by doing work that is most suitable for them, this will give them ‘true moral repose.’166

In Hereditary Talent and Character Galton already proposed that one caste of people should be stimulated to procreate and the other caste should refrain from doing so. In

Hereditary Genius Galton expanded this idea: ‘There is a continuity of natural ability reaching from one knows not what height, and descending to one can hardly say what depth.’167 Galton used capital letters to represent higher than average intelligence, and small letters to represent lower than average intelligence. ‘A’ is slightly above average, ‘a’ slightly below average, ‘F’ reaches to the levels of genius, and ‘f’ includes ‘idiots and imbeciles’.168 In Galton’s mind ‘negroes’ did not fit into this scheme, as they have on average a much lower level of intelligence than Caucasians. 169

To show that talent is hereditary, Galton researched judges in England between 1660 and 1865. He discovered that out of 286 judges, one in nine was the father, son or brother of a judge.170 This complemented his ‘evidence’ from Hereditary Talent and Character that talent runs in families.

Galton argued again that eminent people should marry at a young age, and that weak people should refrain from marrying at all. However, he was aware that in reality, the opposite is usually the case: ‘I shall argue that the wisest policy is, that which results in retarding the average age of marriage among the weak, and in hastening it among the vigorous classes; whereas, most unhappily for us, the influence of numeral social has been strongly and banefully exerted in the precisely opposite direction.’171

Galton then discussed the Malthusian idea that all couples should marry late to prevent the world from overcrowding. Galton agreed with this idea, but argued that only intelligent people would be smart enough to understand this concept, eventually causing their number to decrease, and the number of unfit to increase. ‘It may seem monstrous that the weak should be crowded out by the strong, but it is still more monstrous that the races best fitted to play their part on the stage of life should be crowded out by the incompetent, the ailing, and the

desponding.’172 Just as in Hereditary Talent and Character, Galton blamed the medieval

166

Galton, Hereditary genius, 16.

167 Ibidem, 26. 168 Ibidem, 35-36. 169 Ibidem, 339. 170 Ibidem, 55-103. 171 Ibidem, 352-353. 172 Ibidem,356.

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church from stimulating this process, as they kept the strong and intelligent from procreating due to celibacy in the church.173

Galton ended Hereditary Genius with his eugenic dream. He envisioned a society in which income would be based on one’s qualities and merits instead of one’s heritage. Also, he highly valued a society in which ‘marriage was held in as high honour as in ancient Jewish times; where the pride of race was encouraged (…) where the weak could find a welcome and a refuge in celibate monasteries or sisterhoods, and lastly, where the better sort of emigrants and refugees from other lands were invited and welcomed, and their descendants

naturalized.’174

This was the first time Galton spoke openly about what should be done with mentally weak people, apart from discouraging them to marry and have children. In the next section we will see how others responded to his controversial ideas.