Were Huxley's social views constituted by his biological work, and vice versa? Progress, perfection, & social values in Julian Huxley's biological worldview.

Abstract

While Julian S. Huxley's role in the Eugenics Society is well known, the ways in which his scientific research program intimately intertwined with his broader social views is sometimes overlooked. This paper analyzes Huxley's earlier and later research centering Individual (1912) and Modern Synthesis (1942) as two case studies in the context of his larger body of work. There currently exists much exceptional literature on Huxley, which is incorporated and reviewed as much as possible. That literature explores the connection between Huxley's biological views and social views, but there is more to say about the nature of that connection warranting a return to the details of his research program. Huxley aimed to establish the biologist's role for engineering human evolution towards sets of ideals conceived by the educated elite.