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Julian Sorell Huxley In this pdf: UNESCO Its Purpose and Its Philosophy Brent Jessop - Knowledge Driven Revolution.com Part 1: World Evolutionary Humanism, Eugenics and UNESCO | May 19, 2008 Part 2: The Task of Unifying the World Mind | May 26, 2008 Part 3: Education for World Government | June 2, 2008 Part 4: Guiding Society Through Art and Science | June 9, 2008 Part 5: The Mass Media Division of UNESCO | June 16, 2008 ————————————————————————————————————————————— BIOGRAPHICAL CHRONOLOGY OF JULIAN SORELL HUXLEY 1 peace and security and with human wel- World Evolutionary Humanism, fare, in so far as they can be subserved by the educational and scientific and cultural Eugenics and UNESCO relations of the peoples of the world. Ac- UNESCO Its Purpose and Its Philosophy ¥ Part 1 cordingly its outlook must, it seems, be Brent Jessop - Knowledge Driven Revolution.com • May 19, 2008 based on some form of humanism. Fur- http://www.KnowledgeDrivenRevolution.com/Articles/200805/20080519_UNESCO_1_Philosophy.htm ther, that humanism must clearly be a world humanism, both in the sense of seek- "That [fundamental] task [of UNESCO] is to help the emergence of a single world ing to bring in all the peoples of the world, culture, with its own philosophy and background of ideas, and with its own broad and of treating all peoples and all individu- purpose. This is opportune, since this is the first time in history that the scaffolding als within each people as equals in terms and the mechanisms for world unification have become available, and also the first of human dignity, mutual respect, and edu- time that man has had the means (in the shape of scientific discovery and its cational opportunity. It must also be a sci- applications) of laying a world-wide foundation for the minimum physical welfare of entific humanism, in the sense that the ap- the entire human species. And it is necessary, for at the moment two opposing plication of science provides most of the philosophies of life confront each other from the West and from the East, and not only material basis for human culture, and also impede the achievement of unity but threaten to become the foci of actual conflict. that the practice and the understanding of You may categorise the two philosophies as two super-nationalisms; or as individu- science need to be integrated with that of alism versus collectivism; or as the American versus the Russian way of life; or as other human activities. It cannot, however, capitalism versus communism; or as Christianity versus Marxism; or in half a dozen be materialistic, but must embrace the other ways. The fact of their opposition remains and the further fact that round each spiritual and mental as well as the mate- of them are crystallising the lives and thoughts and political aspirations of hundreds rial aspects of existence, and must attempt of millions of human beings. Can this conflict be avoided, these opposites be to do so on a truly monistic, unitary philo- reconciled, this antitheses be resolved in a higher syntheses? I believe not only that sophic basis. this can happen, but that, through the inexorable dialectic of evolution, it must Finally it must be an evolutionary as op- happen - only I do not know whether it will happen before or after another war." - 61 posed to a static or ideal humanism. It is essential for Unesco to adopt an evolution- As the first Director of UNESCO (United Kalinga Prize (1953) and ary approach. If it does not do so, its phi- Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural the Special Award of the losophy will be a false one, its humanism Organisation), Sir Julian Sorell Huxley Lasker Foundation in the at best partial, at worst misleading. We will (1887-1975) wrote a paper entitled UNESCO category Planned Parent- justify this assertion in detail later. Here it Its Purpose and Its Philosophy (1946) [1] in hood - World Population is only necessary to recall that in the last which he outlined his vision for the newly (1959) to name but a few decades it has been possible to develop created international organisation (which few. He is also the an extended or general theory of evolu- grew out of the League of Nations' Institute Grandson of Thomas Huxley (Darwin's Bull- tion which can provide the necessary of Intellectual Co-operation). According to dog) and brother of author Aldous Huxley. intellectual scaffolding for modern hu- Huxley, the guiding philosophy of UNESCO manism. It not only shows us man's place should be what he termed, World Evolution- in nature and his relations to the rest of ary Humanism. The following article describes UNESCO Philosophy of the phenomenal universe, not only gives this philosophy and its relation to eugenics. World Evolutionary Humanism us a description of the various types of evo- Julian Huxley, an evolutionary biologist, hu- lution and the various trends and directions From UNESCO Its Purpose and Its Philosophy: manist, and ardent internationalist held many within them, but allows us to distinguish titles including: Secretary of the Zoological [Italicised text is original emphasis and desirable and undesirable trends, and to Society of London (1935-42), first president bolded text is added by author.] demonstrate the existence of progress in of the British Humanist Association (1963), the cosmos. And finally it shows us man "But in order to carry out its work, an Vice-President (1937-44) and President as now the sole trustee of further evolu- organisation such as Unesco needs not (1959-62) of the British Eugenics Society. tionary progress, and gives us important only a set of general aims and objects for He was also a founding member of the World guidance as to the courses he should avoid itself, but also a working philosophy, a Wild Life Fund, coined the term and those he should pursue if he is to working hypothesis concerning human "transhumanism" (as a means of disguising achieve that progress. existence and its aims and objects, which eugenics) and gave two Galton memorial lec- will dictate, or at least indicate, a definite An evolutionary approach provides the tures (1936, 1962). Huxley also received line of approach to its problems." - 6 link between natural science and human many awards including the Darwin Medal history; it teaches us the need to think in of the Royal Society (1956), UNESCO's "Its [UNESCO's] main concern is with the dynamic terms of speed and direction 2 rather than in the static ones of momen- utilising the old innate potentialities, in- the current democratic doctrine of equal- tary position or quantitative achievement; stead of in the nature of these potentiali- ity. In face of it, indeed, the principle of it not only shows us the origin and bio- ties, as in the biological sector. [...] Nor equality of opportunity must be amended logical roots of our human values, but does it mean that man's innate mental pow- to read "equality of opportunity within gives us some basis and external standards ers could not be improved. They certainly the limits of aptitude." " - 18 for them among the apparently neutral were improved (presumably be [sic] natu- "Biological inequality is, of course, the mass of natural phenomena; and it is in- ral selection) in the earliest stages of his bedrock fact on which all of eugenics is dispensable in enabling us to pick out, career, [...] and they could certainly be predicated. But it is not usually realised among the chaotic welter of conflicting improved further by deliberate eugenic that the two types of inequality have quite tendencies to-day, those trends and activi- measures, if we consciously set ourselves different and indeed contrary eugenic im- ties and methods which Unesco should to improve them. Meanwhile, however, it plications. The inequality of mere differ- emphasise and facilitate. is in social organisation, in machines, and ence is desirable, and the preservation of in ideas that human evolution is mostly Thus the general philosophy of Unesco human variety should be one of the two made manifest." - 9 should, it seems, be a scientific world primary aims of eugenics. But the inequal- humanism, global in extent and evolu- ity of level or standard is undesirable, and tionary in background. What are the fur- Eugenics the other primary aim of eugenics should ther implications, practical as well as theo- In the philosophy outlined above, there is a be the raising of the mean level of all de- retical, of such an outlook? We must ex- lot of high sounding idealistic language about sirable qualities. While there may be dis- amine these in some detail before coming equality. For example the quote below. pute over certain qualities, there can be down to a consideration of Unesco's ac- none over a number of the most impor- "Further, that humanism must clearly be a tivity section by section." - 7 tant, such as a healthy constitution, a high world humanism, both in the sense of seek- innate general intelligence, or a special ap- "Our first task must be to clarify the no- ing to bring in all the peoples of the world, titude such as that for mathematics or tion of desirable and undesirable directions and of treating all peoples and all individu- music. of evolution, for on this will depend our als within each people as equals in terms attitude to human progress - to the possi- of human dignity, mutual respect, and edu- At the moment, it is probable that the in- bility of progress in the first place, and then cational opportunity." - 7 direct effect of civilisation is dysgenic in- to its definition." - 8 stead of eugenic; and in any case it seems Of course, for eugenicists like Huxley, some likely that the dead weight of genetic stu- "But once more a new and more efficient are more equal than others.
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