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Possession Of Knowledge Carries An Ethical Responsibility Essay

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Ethical responsibility is the duty to follow a morally correct path, to correct a wrongful situation that may affect you, your surrounding and other people. One becomes responsible for the possession of knowledge when they become aware of any destructive scenario. The title itself carries a direct assumption that knowledge carries an ethical responsibility. One can understand the consequences of a scenario by having the knowledge of it which then makes him/her carry the weight of responsibility (ethical). The Knowledge issue question is how can we determine that having the possession of knowledge about something should lead to ethical responsibility? We can answer this question by analyzing the statement “Possessing of knowledge sometimes does carry an ethical responsibility”. We can investigate this claim by exploring and applying the areas of knowledge, specifically …show more content…

The word eugenics invented by Francis Galton in the late 1800’s had a goal to improve the human population by getting rid of the undesired traits and increasing the desired ones with the help of selective breading. With our claim “possession of knowledge does carry an ethical responsibility”, Galton is somewhat responsible for all the deaths related to eugenics throughout the years. Eugenics in later years evolved in such a way that not only did they increase the birthrate of the ‘fit’ by selecting parenthood (positive eugenics), but also reduce the birthrate of people that were ‘unfit’ (negative eugenics). For example in 1913, few American states had laws that allowed the compulsory sterilization of those held in custody who were also tagged as ‘unfit’. This resulted in around 70,000 victims being forcefully sterilized, some of these victims include criminals, mentally retarded, drug addicts, the blind, deaf

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When learning about some of the laws and policies enacted throughout history, it is important to understand the historical, social, and political context in which it was created. This does not mean that these contexts justify or alleviate blame from those who enacted these laws or policies, rather, examining the origin of these laws through an interdisciplinary approach can help to understand why these laws may have been created. Adam Cohen’s Imbeciles, discusses the United States eugenics movement and the sterilization of Carrie Buck. Using concepts from Kitty Calavita’s Invitation to Law and Society, Carrie Buck ’s sterilization will be analyzed from the lens of law and society scholarship.

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Wicked Silence is a short documentary that focuses on the 7600 forced sterilizations that occurred in North Carolina even after World War II, making North Carolina among the worst in state sterilization programs. The film began with a forum for victims and their family members, in which the audience is introduced to the concept of feeblemindedness as the criterion that the Eugenics Board of North Carolina used to target victims for these forced and coerced sterilizations. Social workers would target people and form petitions based on this for the “operation of sterilization or asexualization by the Eugenics Board of North Carolina” (Haq, YouTube, Wicked Silence), most often not obtain consent from the patients, and send the cases to Raleigh

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Villarosa argued that the eugenics movement played a significant role in shaping family planning policies and practices in the United States. In the book, she noted that the eugenicists believed that certain groups of people like African Americans and other people who suffer through poverty, were biologically inferior and should be discouraged from reproducing. These ideas were embraced by policymakers, public health officials, and family planning workers. They often saw their work as a way to control the reproduction of marginalized communities. The author also stated that the eugenics movement was intertwined with racism and classism.

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That did not mean eliminate the possibilities of poorer areas reproducing. It did not involve permanent defects on test subjects simply because they are poor. Eugenics in the penal system took the negative approach and called it a “movement” using the poor and imprisoned as subject studies of that movement. The eugenics movements in the United States, Germany, and Scandinavia favored the negative approach. The courts would offer shorter sentences to people who would agree to be sterilized, knowing that they would take it because they could not afford bond and would want a shorter sentence.

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In 1917, a law was passed creating the Oregon State Board of Eugenics. Eugenics is the concept of promoting people with sought after physical and mental traits to reproduce in order to enhance society. The board was allowed to sterilize inmates and patients in prisons and mental institutions, and if they could not reproduce, the thought was it would improve society. However, in 1983 the law was abolished. Sterilizing people does not stop the following generation from having physical or mental abnormalities nor does it prevent crime, using genetics to predict the mental state of future generations is not logical, and the sterilizations were unfair and inhumane.

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Furthermore, men were the majority of sterilization victims and then intension shifted dramatically to women. The unfit mother and well-fit dependency affected many people. Plan Parenthood has led to the eugenics movement with eugenics mania occurring. The unfit motherhood was the real problem in the society. In the 1960’s, black power groups formed and race genocide occurred.

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Accessed 20 Sept. 2017 Galton, Francis. “Eugenics; Its Definition, Scope and Aims.” The American Journal of Sociology, vol. 10, no. 1, July 1904, doi:10.1038/070082a0. Accessed 20 Sept. 2017. “Giggleswick.”

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Along with the losses of loved ones, nurses suffered through some awful conditions. The health of these nurses often took a toll. The weather and conditions in which they worked created some major issues for their health and their patients’ health. One Sister wrote to family members complaining about the health issues being faced, “In a letter to her sister she claimed her health had ‘gone to pot… I had some awful nights coughing through a raw, swollen throat with pains all over.’

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The term eugenics, which originates from the Greek root “well-born” or “good-in birth” can be defined as the belief and practice of improving the genetic quality of the human population either for the worse or better (Melissa, 2013). Allowing the positive aspects of eugenics to overcome the negative spin-off effects of the process will create a more sustainable and innovative human race. Since the flourishing of the eugenics movement in the late nineteenth century (Eugenics), eugenics currently is and could potentially expand on advanced particular skills, increase overall health, and improve society if preceded with caution. Obtaining a more intelligent and informed population will not only enhance the progress of developments but boost

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When Francis Galton coined the term “eugenics” in 1883, the magnitude of support and appeal that soon followed during the context of the World War One and onward was extremely vast. When examining this topic in reference to Diane B. Paul’s Controlling Human Heredity, 1865 to the Present, we are able to analyze its allure throughout society in a contextual manner in regards to political and social manners. But before we analyze its impact on a country scale, it’s important to deliberate the definition and creation of the science itself to analyze its vitality to society in this time period. Eugenics is built upon the idea that the basis for human facets—such as mental, behavioral, and moral traits—are determined by heredity. Theorists, such

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In today’s world, many people tend to have a set of ethical principles which is one of the guidelines for them to follow on. The question is how he or she defines ethics? To answer, Ethics is best defined as knowing what is right or wrong in the action based on the moral principles. Moreover, it is also known as the branch of knowledge that deals with ethical issues. In relation, there are some ethical theories which deal with the ethical issues.

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Eugenics is the science of using artificial selection to improve genetic features of the population. It is thought that improvement of the human race can be seen through sterilization of people who exhibit undesirable traits and selective breeding. Often called Social Darwinism, the concept was widely accepted during the time of World War I. It quickly became a taboo after World War II when Nazi Germany used it as an excuse for genocide. The thought of improving the human race by manipulating who is allowed to breed can either be appalling or compelling.

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To what extent does possessing knowledge grants us privilege and advantages? Knowledge gives us the basic on how we behave and think. It shapes who we are because we act upon what we know. The more we know the more things we took into consideration before acting or reacting to something.

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Eugenics The term eugenics was coined in 1883 by Francis Galton. He defined it as the study of “the conditions under which men of a high type are produced” and also as “the science which deals with all influences that improve the inborn qualities of a race”. However, it is not just a field of study and, could be taken as a social movement or policy as well. “Eugenics” may refer to the theory that infers hereditable intelligence and fortune which are possessed by the wealthy, successful and intelligent were made as a result of their good selective breeding, and that the lower classes would remain so because they continued to breed with other poor people from lower social classes or casts. Eugenics could be popular amongst people with a vested

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Editing of the human genome in the past has been only a sight seen in dystopia works such as Brave New World. Now, genetic enhancement is a prevalent today and people are beginning to realize the issues that can arise from creating these designer babies. Gene editing can be helpful to eradicate life changing disabilities. Yet, the term disability does not correctly label these differently abled people, as the idea of what is considered disabled has changed overtime. To fully understand the consequences and implications of genetic selection and enhancement of human embryos, society must mature and declare lines of what is and is not ethically moral.

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