ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the history of eugenics as it relates to disability, and argues that this historical relationship between the two can be seen in contemporary bioethics. It shows that disability, especially cognitive disability, has been a stable object of eugenics; that is, one of the traits that eugenicists aim to eliminate. Though bioethics developed largely as a response to the rise of eugenics during the Second World War, Wilson argues that eugenic logics are still present within contemporary bioethics. As evidenced by cognitive definitions of personhood as well as explicit arguments in favour of eugenics, Wilson argues that a “newgenic” is taking shape in contemporary bioethics.
