“죽음의 문화”로서의 우생 사상과 우생학

Abstract

Nowadays we have faced harsh realities against human dignity and life such as abortion, euthanasia, embryo experiments, gene manipulation, and fetal-diagnosis. And below these phenomena there are cultural currents and ideas which have affected the values of the contemporary human beings. One of the representatives of these ideas is Eugenics and Eugenic thoughts. Eugenic thoughts, which divide human layers into superior and inferior and show prejudice and discrimination towards the disadvantaged in society, had a deep root, even originating in Ancient Greece. Eugenics, which provided the Nazi Germany with the ideological basis for the Auschwitz massacre, is still making threats to life in different modes like genetics, even though the name itself faded away after the criticism against the brutality of the Nazi during the second world. In his encyclical, <The Gospel of the Life>, Pope John Paul II indicated certain backgrounds of a variety of anti-life conditions using expressions such as "the profound crisis of culture", "the culture of death", "conspiracy against life", etc (no.11-12). Especially, he asserted that a "present-day phenomenon, frequently used to justify threats and attacks against life, is the demographic question" and some birth control policies such as contraception, sterilization, and abortion are attempting to attack human life (no,16). I argue that Eugenics and Eugenic thoughts are considered as the root and true nature of the attacks against life and the root of "the culture of death" Pope John Paul II pointed out in his encyclical, <The Gospel of the Life>. Eugenic thoughts extend from Plato in the Ancient Creek period, Rousseau with his idea of nature, Kant with the idea of self-determination in 18th century, and to Malthus with his idea on population. Malthus also have had influence over Darwin and Spencer who created the concept of "the survival of the fittest" in which only superior species or superior individual can succeed in "the struggle for existence" and achieve their evolution. From the idea of evolution, the core of Eugenics and Social Darwinism was derived and had have caused the anti-life legislation such as "the law of sterilization" in the U.K., the U. S., Germany, etc. Recently, research on "Human Genome" and other new areas in genetics were developed and continues the tradition of Eugenics. Korea is no exception either. We should watch out the phenomena caused by Eugenic thoughts in Korean society as a dimension of a pro-life movement.