For the Betterment of Mankind: Ideas about Selective Breeding in French and German Enlightenment Thinking

Unlike the common notion of eugenics as a phenomenon of the late 19th and early 20th centuries,
concepts of "human breeding" were developed in Western Europe since the middle of the 18th
century. Based on case studies and tracts dealing with "medical police" and "medical hygiene", scientific and economic experts discussed problems such as the hereditary transmission of disabilities and diseases, and the origins of so-called "degenerate" peoples publicly in a variety of enlightened journals. In the years preceding the French Revolution especially, French and German public servants developed concrete concepts for a strictly state controlled marriage policy. "Female stud farms" in the manner of livestock breeders to enhance not only the "quantity" but also the "quality" of their countries' population were part of such plans as well as selective breeding to produce pain resistant soldiers or robust agricultural labourers. My focus will be upon the reception
and transformation of such ideas between French and German scholars of various professions,
primarily surgeons, physicians, and the (new academic field of) governance (“Cameralists”). In
particular the talk will address their utilitaristic perspective and its religious/ethic limitations on the
range of legitimate means to promote the welfare of their respective states. By examining scientific
publications as well as literary contributions to non scientific scholarly journals (“Gelehrte
Journale”) of the second half of the 18th century the paper explores the close entanglement of
science, culture and nation building.