Galton proposed that the objective of eugenics should be the improvement of the genetic qualities of the population with respect to three characteristics: (1) health, (2) intelligence, and (3) what he called “moral character.” He employed the concept of health broadly to include not only the absence of disease, but also the presence of energy, vigor, and what he sometimes called “physique.” Galton (1909) believed there would be a widespread consensus on the desirability of health in this broad sense, writing of the discussions he had had with a number of people that “some qualities such as health and vigor are thought by all to be desirable and the opposite undesirable”
Galton argued in his Hereditary Genius that the intelligence of a population is a major component in its cultural, scientific, and economic achievements; that these are the defining characteristics of civilization; that civilization is better than barbarism; and that to maintain and promote an advanced civilization, the intelligence of the population needs to be improved and prevented from declining. Galton conceptualized intelligence as a single general ability that is capable of being channeled into a variety of fields of human endeavor. This has become the prevailing view in contemporary psychology. (Richard A. Soloway, 1990).
Galton conceptualized moral character as a syndrome of personality qualities comprising a strong moral sense, energy and “zeal” for sustained work, integrity, trustworthiness, and a sense of social obligation. Those who lacked moral character he described in an early article as “men who are born with wild and irregular dispositions”. Galton believed that character was also an important quality for the maintenance of civilization and, therefore, that it also needed to be improved and prevented from declining....................
