From Destiny to Freedom? On Human Nature and Liberal Eugenics in the Age of Genetic Manipulation

In his book on the fears plaguing the European cultures and societies between the 14th and 18th centuries, the French historian Jean Delumeau argues that the French Revolution would not have paved the way into the future or permanently removed the old fears from the collective mentality if it had not been progressively overcome by an economic and technological revolution (si elle n’avait pas e´te´ progressivement double´e par une re´volution e´conomique et technique1). A crucial aspect emerges from this quotation: The idea and belief that political transformations precede technological and scientific transformations, or that political changes create the conditions for their development and implementation. Historians have the inclination to read past epochs moving from codes and discourses embedded in political contexts and strategies.