Eugenics and Zionism are both offspring of intellectual and political life in 19th century Fin de Siécle Western Europe. These were utopias intended to save humanity and Judaism respectively from degeneration. Francis Galton drew the consequences from Darwin’s notion of "Nature versusNurture" according to which modern life jeopardized the future of the human race by relaxing selection against the "unfit", and suggested eugenics to save humanity. Emancipation of the Jews left them as second-grade citizens, and excuses for discrimination on religious and cultural grounds became biological-racial in nature. Jewish intellectuals who founded the Zionist movement wished to counter Jewish Entartung due to life in the Diaspora by adopting the notion of Blut und Erde also to their people. Although there were disputes over the hereditary nature of “Jewish properties”, Zionism was conceived as “a great and courageous national effort in the eugenic sense.” With the collapse of Nazism and the establishment of the State of Israel, eugenics disappeared from the overt parlance, but not from the “national awareness,” neither did relax the belief in the power of genetics as an analytic tool for determining the history of present-day Jews.
Raphael Falk, PhD is a Professor Emeritus, Hebrew University. He has been involved in genetic analysis for over half a century, first in active experimental research and later in doing research on the history and philosophy of genetics. Among his current research projects: The history of genetics; meaning of concepts in genetics; eugenics past and present; epistemology and the history of genetic concepts.
Ein Vortrag in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Institut für Geschichte und Ethik der Medizin.
Information on participating / attending:
Date:
07/13/2011 16:00 - 07/13/2011 18:00
Event venue:
Institut für Geschichte und Ethik der Medizin
Im Neuenheimer Feld 327
69120 Heidelberg
Baden-Württemberg
Germany
Target group:
Scientists and scholars, Students
Relevance:
regional
Subject areas:
History / archaeology, Medicine
Types of events:
Presentation / colloquium / lecture
Entry:
07/08/2011
Sender/author:
Désirée Martin
Department:
Pressereferat
Event is free:
yes
Language of the text:
English
URL of this event: http://idw-online.de/en/event35997
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