Beyondism
Genetica. 1997;99(2-3):153-63.
Beyondism: Raymond B. Cattell and the new eugenics.
Mehler B1.
Author information
1Department of Humanities, Ferris State University, Big Rapids, MI, USA.
Abstract
A significant confusion has arisen out of the mass of work done on the history of eugenics in the last two decades. Early scholars of the subject treated eugenics as a marginalized or obsolete movement of the radical right. Subsequent research has shown that eugenic ideas were adopted in diverse national settings by very different groups, including--among others--liberals, communists and Catholics, as well as radical rightists. This complexity is sometimes taken to mean that eugenic has no special ideological associations, that it is historically and potentially a beast of a thousand heads. It is not. Although people of varied ideological commitments have been attracted to eugenics, ideologues of the radical right, and above all interwar fascists, have been uniquely and centrally involved in its development. Fascism and the radical right are also complex entities, but for all the heterogeneity of both eugenics and fascism, the special historical relationship between the two cannot be ignored. This relationship is exemplified in the work of the influential psychologist, Raymond B. Cattell. Cattell was an early supporter of German national socialism and his work should be understood in the context of interwar fascism. The new religious movement that he founded, 'Beyondism', is a neo-fascist contrivance. Cattell now promulgates ideas that he formulated within a demimonde of radical eugenists and neo-fascists that includes such as associates as Revilo Oliver, Roger Pearson, Wilmot Robertson and Robert K. Graham. These ideas and Cattell's role in the history of eugenics deserve deeper analysis than they have hitherto received. Far from being of merely antiquarian interest, his work currently encourages the propagation of radical eugenist ideology. It is unconscionable for scholars to permit these ideas to go unchallenged, and indeed honored and emulated by a new generation of ideologues and academicians whose work helps to dignify the most destructive political ideas of the twentieth century.
PMID: 9463071
CONCLUSION
Cattell is a major figure in the history of eugenics, who has legions of dedicated students with considerable influence in a number of academic fields, including intelligence and personality testing, behavior genetics, education, and theology. Most of his prot�g�es, when publicly confronted with Cattell’s Beyondist ideology contend that Cattell’s contribution to multivariate analysis is the core of his contribution to psychology and genetics and that his eugenic ideas are insignificant - the inevitable product of a brilliant mind forever spinning out ideas, some of which are naturally a little quirky. It is my contention that none of those who have worked closely with Cattell and remained loyal to him are unaware of the centrality of Cattell’s Beyondist ideology. In fact, multivariate analysis is a means to an end, not the end in itself, and those close to Cattell know this. It is my belief that Cattell’s students deliberately obsfucate the political and social implications of their mentor’s ideology.
In the radical right demimonde, on the other hand, the political implications of Cattell’s work and its significance for contemporary fascism is recognized, acknowledged and openly embraced. He is considered a leading theorist of contemporary eugenics, and is certainly the most prominent academician in the extremist camp. It is this unique combination of academic legitimacy and extremists ideology that explains Cattell’s importance to contemporary fascist and eugenic advocates.
Beyondism: Raymond B. Cattell and the New Eugenics
by Barry Mehler
Originally published in Genetica99: 153-163 (1997). Revised for posting on ISAR web page, Copyright �, ISAR, January 1998.https://ferris-pages.org/ISAR/bios/Cattell/genetica.htm