The Tyranny of the Future: G.K. Chesterton and the Paradoxes of Eugenics
The Tyranny of the Future: G.K. Chesterton and the Paradoxes of Eugenics

Summary/Abstract: Th is article discusses G. K. Chesterton’s criticism of eugenic programmes and rationalities in his essay Eugenics and other Evils, originally published in 1922. Th e fi rst part of the paper presents Chesterton’s analysis of central eugenic arguments, whose inner contradictions and lack of logical consistency he examines from both a humorous and a clear-sighted perceptive. Chesterton is additionally interested in the social driving forces and political benefi ciaries of eugenic programmes, and argues that they were mainly used to control the workers and the poor. In the second part, I show that Chesterton’s critical analysis of eugenic practices at the beginning of the 20th century contains important insights that can be fruitfully harnessed for the current debate on the social impact of genetic and reproductive technologies. Th e last prat of the paper highlights some important continuities and breaks between eugenics in the past and current practices in reproductive medicine and human genetics.

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