This article deals with the social-philosophical meaning of degeneration. For other meanings associated with degeneration, please see degeneracy. The word degeneracy has more than one meaning: In general, degeneracy means reverting to an earlier, simpler, state In mathematics, a limiting case in which a class of object changes its nature so as to belong to another, usually simpler, class. ...

The idea of degeneration had a huge influence or science, art and politics from the 1850s to the 1950s. // What is science? There are different theories of what science is. ... Resources ArtLex. ... The Elections and Parties Series Democracy Representative democracy History of democracy Referenda Liberal democracy Representation Voting Voting systems Ideology Elections Elections by country Elections by calender Electoral systems Politics Politics by country Political campaigns Political science Political philosophy Related topics Political parties Parties by country Parties by name Parties by... Events and Trends Technology Production of steel revolutionised by invention of the Bessemer process Benjamin Silliman fractionates petroleum by distillation for the first time First transatlantic telegraph cable laid First safety elevator installed by Elisha Otis Science Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of Species, putting forward the theory of evolution... // Events and trends The 1950s in Western society was marked with a sharp rise in the economy for the first time in almost 30 years and return to the 1920s-type consumer society built on credit and boom-times, as well as the height of the baby-boom from returning...

In the 1850s French doctor Benedict Morel argued that certain groups of people were degenerating, going backwards in terms of evolution so each generation became weaker and weaker. This was based on pre-Darwinian ideas of evolution, especially those of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, who argued that acquired characteristics (drug habits, perversions, etc.) could be inherited. This is not true, as a matter of genetics. Charles Darwin, father of the theory of evolution by natural selection. ... Charles Darwin Darwinism is a term used for various processes related to the ideas of Charles Darwin, particularly concerning evolution and natural selection. ... Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, Chevalier de Lamarck (August 1, 1744 - December 28, 1829) was a major 19th century French naturalist, who was one of the first to use the term biology in its modern sense. ... Perversion is a derogatory term for deviation from the original meaning or doctrine, literally turning aside from what is perceived to be orthodox or normal. ... Genetics (from the Greek genno γεννώ= give birth) is the science of genes, heredity, and the variation of organisms. ...

A whole biological explanation for social problems was developed. Max Nordau's 1890s bestseller Degeneration attempted to explain all modern art, music and literature by pointing out the degenerate characteristics of the artists involved. Max Simon Nordau (July 29, 1849 - January 23, 1923), born Simon Maximilian Südfeld, Südfeld Simon Miksa in Pest, Hungary, was a Zionist leader, physician, author, and social critic. ... The 1890s were sometimes referred to as the Mauve Decade, because William Henry Perkins aniline dye allowed the widespread use of that colour in fashion, and also as the Gay Nineties, under the then-current usage of the word gay which referred simply to merriment and frivolity, with no...

In the twentieth century the Nazis adopted the concept, using it to justify the sterilization and extermination of those who would otherwise corrupt future generations. They also used the concept in art, banning "degenerate" (entartete) art and music: see degenerate art. Look up Nazi in Wiktionary, the free dictionary The term Nazi typically refers to someone who affiliates oneself with or is percieved to be affiliated with the ideology of the former National Socialist German Workers Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, commonly called NSDAP or the Nazi Party). ... Sterilization is a surgical technique leaving a male or female unable to procreate. ... The Magdeburger Ehrenmal (Magdeburg cenotaph) created by Ernst Barlach was declared to be degenerate art due to the deformity and emaciation of the figures which corresponded to Nordaus theory of the connection between mental and physical degeneration. ...

For further information, see Daniel Pick's book Degeneration, or the work of Sander Gilman.

External links

• Degeneration, Nordau and Nietzsche