246 THE LIMITATIONS OF SCIENCE 



to deal with classes of phenomena. In this instance, 

 the object is to mold the whole human race, with its 

 immensely complex and diversified desires and actions, 

 its egotisms and its sympathies, into a homogeneous 

 society which shall progress toward a standard, previ- 

 ously determined, of a noble and god-like humanity. 

 The reward to be expected by the individual who is 

 born and lives well is that intense feeling of satisfac- 

 tion he will have that the race as a whole has been 

 carried a little closer to a distant and vague goal of 

 perfection because of his submission to the laws of 

 eugenical righteousness. 



We can now define the eugenists, if our ideas be cor- 

 rect, as a band of human beings who shall be the ar- 

 biters of right and wrong. This band must be small 

 because it is difficult to find even two persons who have 

 the same standards; it must be select as there is at 

 present no known way for a person to exercise a choice 

 in his parents and it will need judges of superior 

 ability to pick out those who are worthy to be parents 

 and to live. Parentage under eugenical guidance is 

 certain to be a very serious matter and I imagine that 

 we should expect a rather large diminution in the 

 human race for a few centuries until the system is 

 running smoothly. At present, we cannot leave the 

 regulation of life after birth according to euthenic 

 standards to the ordinary person, because we should 

 then not have euthenics at all, but the present hap- 



