Agathos: An International Review of the Humanities and Social Sciences (Nov 2011)
EUGENICS, THE GIRARDIAN THEORY OF SACRIFICE, AND THE NEW DARWINIAN ETHICS
Abstract
In this paper I argue that, though many ethical systems recognizesacrifice as moral action, the utilitarian appropriation of Neo-Darwinian theory especially as it justifies eugenics as a “winnowing of the human stock” is in Girardian terms analogous to the sacrificial scapegoating of innocents. This argument is accomplished in four steps. (1) I show that within some ethical systems sacrifice is recognized as moral behavior driven by a specific axiology (or theory of value) (2) I discuss some of the meta-ethical problems connected with Neo-Darwinian naturalism and naturalism, in general. (3) I show how modern varieties of naturalism and Darwinian naturalism, inparticular are especially inclined to lead to a moral justification of eugenic scapegoating and how Girardian theory is helpful in identifying the moral disorder connected with eugenics. (4) Finally, I conclude by arguing that Darwin’s thought is susceptible to another kind of interpretation, one that need not lead to the valorization of eugenics.
