The return of the Inseminator: Eutelegenesis in past and contemporary reproductive ethics
by
McMillan J.
Department of Philosophy and Hull York Medical School,
University of Hull, Hull, UK.
John.McMillan@hyms.ac.uk
Stud Hist Philos Biol Biomed Sci. 2007 Jun;38(2):393-410.

ABSTRACT

Eugenicists in the 1930s and 1940s emphasised our moral responsibilities to future generations and the importance of positively selecting traits that would benefit humanity. In 1935 Herbert Brewer recommended 'Eutelegenesis' (artificial insemination with sperm from specially selected males) so that that future generations are not only protected from hereditary disease but also become more intelligent and fraternal than us. The development of these techniques for human use and animal husbandry was the catalyst for the cross fertilization of moral ideas and the development of a critical procreative morality. While eugenicists argued for a new critical morality, religious critics argued against artificial insemination because of its potential to damage important moral institutions. The tension between critical and conservative procreative morality is a feature of the contemporary debates about reproductive technologies. This and some of the other aspects of the early and contemporary debates about artificial insemination and reproductive technologies are discussed in this article.

Japan
France
Finland
Hungary
Swiss eugenics
Liberal Eugenics
'Designer babies'
Private eugenics
Japanese eugenics
Psychiatric genetics
Human self-domestication
Selecting potential children
Preimplantation genetic diagnosis
'A life without pain? Hedonists take note'
Francis Galton and contemporary eugenics
Transhumanism (H+): toward a Brave New World?

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