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Eugenics and Other Evils

"Eugenics and Other Evils," by Gilbert Keith Chesterton. I think G.K. Chesterton explains his book rather well in his introduction, but it might help to start with a sense of the time in question. Chesterton started work on Eugenics and Other Evils in about 1910, but it was not completed and published until 1922. In his own introduction he talks about the period before and after "The War." The war he refers to is now called World War One.We now have a distaste for the word Eugenics, largely driven by events in World War Two. But at the time this book was published, Eugenics was lauded to the skies as a wonderful idea, and Chesterton was nearly the only person saying in writing that Eugenics was in fact evil. A case could be made, and has been made, that today, though the word Eugenics is avoided, some practices that are in fact Eugenic practices, and some sciences that are in fact Eugenic sciences, enjoy great popularity and engender great public enthusiasm. To which practices and

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Episodes

  1. Eugenics - Thank you!

    Thank you for listening to Eugenics. You might also want to listen to my other book projects here on Podiobooks.com.

  2. Eugenics Episode 16

    Part 2, Chapter 8 -- The End of the Household Gods: "The only place where it is possible to find an echo of the mind of the English masses is either in conversation or in comic songs. The latter are obviously the more dubious; but they are the only things recorded and quotable that come anywhere...

  3. Eugenics Episode 15

    Part 2, Chapter 7 -- The Transformation of Socialism: "Socialism is one of the simplest ideas in the world. It has always puzzled me how there came to be so much bewilderment and misunderstanding and miserable mutual slander about it. At one time I agreed with Socialism, because it was simple.…

    more

  4. Eugenics Episode 14

    Part 2, Chapter 6 -- The Eclipse of Liberty: "If such a thing as the Eugenic sociology had been suggested in the period from Fox to Gladstone, it would have been far more fiercely repudiated by the reformers than by the Conservatives."

  5. Eugenics Episode 13

    Part 2, Chapter 5 --The Meanness of the Motive: "Now, if any ask whether it be imaginable that an ordinary man of the wealthier type should analyse the problem or conceive the plan, the inhumanly far-seeing plan, as I have set it forth, the answer is: "Certainly not." Many rich employers are too...

  6. Eugenics Episode 12

    Part 2, Chapter 4 -- The Vengeance of the Flesh: "By a quaint paradox, we generally miss the meaning of simple stories because we are not subtle enough to understand their simplicity."

  7. Eugenics Episode 11

    Part 2, Chapter 3 -- True History of a Eugenist: "He does not live in a dark lonely tower by the sea, from which are heard the screams of vivisected men and women. On the contrary, he lives in Mayfair."

  8. Eugenics Episode 10

    Part 2, Chapter 2 -- True History of a Tramp: "He awoke in the Dark Ages and smelt dawn in the dark, and knew he was not wholly a slave."

  9. Eugenics Episode 9

    Part 2 -- The Real Aim Chapter 1 -- The Impotence of Impenitence "The root formula of an epoch is always an unwritten law, just as the law that is the first of all laws, that which protects life from the murderer, is written nowhere in the Statute Book."

  10. Eugenics Episode 8

    Part 1, Chapter 8 -- A Summary of a False Theory: "I have up to this point treated the Eugenists, I hope, as seriously as they treat themselves. I have attempted an analysis of their theory as if it were an utterly abstract and disinterested theory; and so considered, there seems to be very…

    more

  11. Eugenics Episode 7

    Part 1, Chapter 7 -- The Established Church of Doubt: "Let us now finally consider what the honest Eugenists do mean, since it has become increasingly evident that they cannot mean what they say."

  12. Eugenics Episode 6

    Part 1, Chapter 6 -- The Unanswered Challenge: "Dr. Saleeby did me the honour of referring to me in one of his addresses on this subject, and said that even I cannot produce any but a feeble-minded child from a feeble-minded ancestry. To which I reply, first of all, that he cannot produce a...

  13. Eugenics Episode 5

    Part 1, Chapter 5 - The Flying Authority: "It happened one day that an atheist and a man were standing together on a doorstep; and the atheist said, "It is raining." To which the man replied, "What is raining?": which question was the beginning of a violent quarrel and a lasting friendship."

  14. Eugenics Episode 4

    Part 1, Chapter 4 -- The Lunatic and the Law: "The modern evil, we have said, greatly turns on this: that people do not see that the exception proves the rule. Thus it may or may not be right to kill a murderer; but it can only conceivably be right to kill a murderer because it is wrong to kill a...

  15. Eugenics Episode 3

    Part 1 Chapter 3 -- The Anarchy from Above: "A silent anarchy is eating out our society. I must pause upon the expression; because the true nature of anarchy is mostly misapprehended."

  16. Eugenics Episode 2

    Part 1 Chapter 2 -- The First Obstacles: "Now before I set about arguing these things, there is a cloud of skirmishers, of harmless and confused modern sceptics, who ought to be cleared off or calmed down before we come to debate with the real doctors of the heresy."

  17. Eugenics Episode 1

    Narrator's Introduction To the Reader Part 1 -- The False Theory Chapter One: "The wisest thing in the world is to cry out before you are hurt. It is no good to cry out after you are hurt; especially after you are mortally hurt."

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ABOUT THIS SHOW

"Eugenics and Other Evils," by Gilbert Keith Chesterton. I think G.K. Chesterton explains his book rather well in his introduction, but it might help to start with a sense of the time in question. Chesterton started work on Eugenics and Other Evils in about 1910, but it was not completed and published until 1922. In his own introduction he talks about the period before and after "The War." The war he refers to is now called World War One.We now have a distaste for the word Eugenics, largely driven by events in World War Two. But at the time this book was published, Eugenics was lauded to the skies as a wonderful idea, and Chesterton was nearly the only person saying in writing that Eugenics was in fact evil. A case could be made, and has been made, that today, though the word Eugenics is avoided, some practices that are in fact Eugenic practices, and some sciences that are in fact Eugenic sciences, enjoy great popularity and engender great public enthusiasm. To which practices and

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How many episodes does Eugenics and Other Evils have?

Eugenics and Other Evils currently has 17 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.

What is Eugenics and Other Evils about?

"Eugenics and Other Evils," by Gilbert Keith Chesterton. I think G.K. Chesterton explains his book rather well in his introduction, but it might help to start with a sense of the time in question. Chesterton started work on Eugenics and Other Evils in about 1910, but it was not completed and...

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Eugenics and Other Evils has 17 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.

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