Scientific racism in Germany/Arthur de Gobineau/An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races/Book 1

Arthur de Gobineau's work "An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races" comprises six books spread over four volumes: Volume 1: Book 1 Volume 2: Book 2 - Book 3 Volume 3: Book 4 - Book 5 Volume 4: Book 6 Content of Book 1 Summary The first book of Gobineau's essay focuses on the author's race theory, which includes his theory of racial degeneration, and his race taxonomy. Theory of racial degeneration Gobineau's essay opens with an exploration of the lifecycle of societies, asserting that every civilization inherently carries the seeds of its downfall from inception. The author challenges widespread views that attribute societal collapse to moral corruption, bad governance, hedonism, or fanaticism, citing diverse examples like the Aztecs and ancient Rome to argue these factors are not consistent causes of decline. Central to Gobineau's thesis is the concept of racial degeneration, which he defines as the loss of a people's original blood purity through mixing with other races. He compares nations to living organisms, arguing that only certain 'gifted' races can found sustainable societies. Unlike what he calls 'brutish tribes' incapable of true nation-building, superior races expand through conquest and assimilation, but eventually, blood mixing leads to their decline as they become a minority in their own civilizations. Gobineau asserts racial inequality as a fundamental human reality and contends that superior races are naturally destined to rule while others are subjugated. Gobineau also examines civilization, a term which he equates with culture, rejecting explanations based on key criteria such as government quality. He sees civilization as a complex chain of events influenced by racial characteristics and distinguishes between "masculine" civilizations focused on material prosperity and "feminine" ones emphasizing imagination. Christianity, though civilizing in manners, does not necessarily propel a society to high civilization. Defining civilization as a relatively stable state where most people satisfy their needs peacefully and with refinement, Gobineau values male societies for their creativity and productivity. He critiques Greco-Roman and French civilizations as unstable or weak due to insufficient racial vigor and limited reach among the masses, asserting that true civilization depends on strong racial foundations rather than politics or mere environment. General racial theory and race taxonomy Though sympathetic to polygenism, Gobineau ultimately leans toward monogenism due to its stronger factual foundations, yet he firmly rejects the monogenist claim that all races are equally perfectible. He divides humanity into three original races: White, Yellow, and Black, dismissing other classifications like the American "Red race." These groups exhibit, according to Gobineau, distinct physical, intellectual, and moral characteristics, with the White race regarded as the most beautiful, strongest, and intellectually superior. The Black race is described as possessing intense desires and sensory acuity but limited intellectual capacity, while the Yellow race is viewed as practical but unambitious, occupying a middle position. Despite noting some positive effects of racial mixing, such as artistic innovation and cultural refinement, Gobineau ultimately condemns miscegenation, believing it dilutes the White race’s superior qualities, which he associates with vigor and excellence. He further argues that races have an intrinsic mutual repulsion, with superior races generally avoiding interbreeding with inferior ones. Socioculturally, Gobineau asserts that civilizations are reflections of racial characteristics, and significant racial differences preclude meaningful cultural fusion. Language, too, is linked to race and intelligence, with advanced languages evidencing higher racial development. While he acknowledges exceptions, Gobineau maintains that racial purity corresponds to strength and that the White race’s historical dominance defines civilization’s progress and nobility. Overall, Gobineau's essay reflects 19th-century racial hierarchies grounded in unscientific assumptions about immutable racial typologies, placing White people at the apex of human development and culture. Creation and downfall of societies Gobineau begins Book 1 by setting out his idea that all human civilizations carry their own downfall within them from the moment they emerge.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 1f Society Gobineau defines a society (Gesellschaft) as "an assemblage of men moved by similar ideas and the same instincts; their political unity may be more or less imperfect, but their social unity must be complete." As examples, he cites the ancient societies of Egypt, Assyria, Greece, India, and China; as counterexamples, he cites Athenian Polis, the Kingdom of Magadha, the Pontic Empire, and the Egyptian Caliphate during the Fatimid period, which were mere "fragments of society".Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 9 He uses the terms "nation" (Nation) and "people" (Volk) less strictly, namely synonymously with both "society" and "fragment of a society".Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 10 Fanaticism, hedonism, immorality, and apostasy Gobineau rejects the idea of the ancient thinkers that "states, peoples, and civilizations only find their downfall through luxury, effeminacy, bad administration, moral corruption, and fanaticism."Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 3-8 Among the counterexamples he uses to prove this are the Aztecs, whose fanaticism in the ritual sacrifice of innocent people did not in any way bring about the downfall of their society.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 10f He writes similarly about "luxury and effeminacy" in England and Russia and the "moral corruption" in ancient Rome, Sparta, the Phoenicians, and modern-day Paris.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 11-14 In particular, in the history of his own country, France, he sees no correlation between the "state of morals" and the well-being of society.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 15f Using the example of the Roman Empire, he shows that when nations fall, not even apostasy from religious practice is a regularly occurring event.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 17-22 Quality of governance Gobineau also rejects the idea that "influence of bad governance" can cause the downfall of societies. As examples of bad politics, he cites a lack of resistance to foreign influence (Athens), a foreign policy that relies solely on conquest (England in the 14th century, the Mongol Empire), a policy whose foundations degenerate (Spain during the time of Philip II), and a policy that creates internal antagonism (Germany during the Hussite Wars and the Anabaptist movement). He points out that none of the societies mentioned collapsed due to these governance problems.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 25-27 He also argues that there are only very few examples in history of thoroughly good governance.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 27f Racial degeneration Degeneration "The word degenerate, when applied to a people, means (as it ought to mean) that the people has no longer the same intrinsic value as it had before, because it has no longer the same blood in its veins, continual adulterations having gradually affected the quality of that blood." (Arthur de Gobineau)Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 31f Gobineau seeks the true causes of the prosperity and decline of societies in their "constitution itself," in a "principle of destruction" that is "born from within themselves and in their womb" and "firmly clings to their very core."Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 30 He identifies this principle as the "degeneration" of a people, seeing the latter as the loss of the original purity of its blood through "mixing." Gobineau explicitly compares the nation to the human body, insofar as both are continually transforming and renewing themselves from their basic components.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 33 However, with regard to the founding of new peoples, Gobineau argues that this comparison is flawed because this is not possible for every race, but only for certain, particularly gifted races. This is impossible, for example, for the "brutish tribes" of the "Australian Negroes of Polynesia," the "Samoyeds," and "most African Negroes," who, out of weakness and unwillingness to risk confrontation with other races, merely form "embryos of societies."Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 34 According to Gobineau, more talented races, on the other hand, attempt to increase their power and prosperity by engaging in warlike relations with their neighbors. After a victory, these races are incorporated as prisoners of war and laboring slaves.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 35 However, only those warrior races that not only destroy and take prisoners of war, but also conquer land, are truly nation-building.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 36 They do not simply spread senseless destruction, but respect the achievements they find in the conquered land and even develop them further.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 38 Gobineau cites the ancient Indians, Egyptians, Persians and Macedonians as historical examples.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 39 He writes that in all societies that engage in war and take prisoners of war, blood mixing occurs sooner or later. However, the mixing of blood between victors and vanquished does not constitute an endpoint; rather, further conquests follow, and then further intermingling. Eventually, other races are absorbed through trade with neighboring peoples.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 39f Due to the high fertility of the dominated races, however, the ruling race eventually becomes a dwindling minority, and the achievements they have brought to the dominated become a "walking corpse": "civilization is dead."Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 41f Gobineau argues that no people ever perishes if they retain their original blood composition.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 42 Despite all the actual mixing of blood, he sees in all races "a secret aversion to interbreeding," which sometimes appears openly, sometimes remains hidden.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 37 Attraction between races exists just as much as repulsion, with superior races more likely to experience repulsion, while inferior races, on the other hand, attraction. Gobineau describes the inequality of human races and the hostility between them as a fundamental human fact dating back to prehistoric times.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 46f He sees the idea that all people are equal as a rebellion of the mixed-blooded masses, who revile the superior, pure-blooded race that had subjugated them and seek to rid themselves of their leadership.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 47 Gobineau rejects the idea that environmental factors shape the characteristics of human groups;Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 48 but instead of explaining this, he only points out the fact that even those who advocate equality are not free from expressing characteristic negative judgments about the people of their neighboring countries.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 49 He sees a further contradiction in the fact that even supporters of democracy, such as the Americans, celebrate the superiority of their people.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 50 For Gobineau, the differences between the individual races culminate in the fact that some are destined to rule, while others are destined to subordination. Civilization Form of government and character of a people Gobineau sees precisely two forms of state constitution at work in history: one originating from a nation itself, and one invented by an influential people and applied to the states it subjugates.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 51 In the former form, where the enlightened will of the people governs, the laws correspond to the natural dispositions and needs of the people.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 52 Instead, however, this form often results in "false constitutions" that are inappropriate to the national characteristics.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 52f This case occurs particularly when the blood of a people mixes and its natural dispositions change.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 54 Gobineau concludes from this that even in self-determining peoples, the laws of a people do not allow for unconditional conclusions about that people's character.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 56 The latter form, where a nation receives its laws – possibly against its will – from foreign hands, was, Gobineau writes, avoided by truly prudent ruling peoples, such as the Romans.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 56f In modern times, nations such as the Spanish, the English, and the Dutch may have desired to demand complete transformation from their subject peoples, but they also did not attempt to enforce this.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 58 On the American continent and in Oceania, the ruthless rule of the Europeans did not result in the transformation of the indigenous populations, but rather their annihilation.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 59 Gobineau illustrates in detail the absurdity of such attempts at subjugation using the two examples of the Sandwich Islands and Saint Domingo.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 60-69 Geography and character of a people Gobineau denies that peoples living in the favorable conditions of temperate latitudes develop into high civilizations solely because of their advantageous location, or that, conversely, peoples in less privileged regions of the world are condemned to barbarism. He cites the American continent as an example, which, despite favorable living conditions, for thousands of years failed to produce societies that understood how to exploit this natural wealth.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 71 In the case of China, Egypt, India, and Assyria, however, where "highly renowned centers of human culture and perfection" emerged, Gobineau expresses certain doubts that these were as favorable for living conditions as is often assumed.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 73f He cites the Phoenicians as an example of a high culture that was able to develop in an undeniably hostile region. It was precisely this hardship, though, that spurred them to develop into skilled sailors and merchants.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 75 However, Gobineau sees a fundamental difference between these Phoenicians and other peoples who, even despite a favorable environment, barely developed; he suspects this difference lies in the mental disposition of each people.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 76 He sees further examples of high social and cultural development under unfavorable geographical conditions in the Armenians and the Jews, casually referring to the latter not only as a people but also as a "race."Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 76f The Greeks and Romans also settled on barren land.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 77f In the Middle Ages, Russia's oldest city (Veliky Novgorod) and flourishing German trading cities like Bremen emerged in bitterly cold regions.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 78f Chance, I may remark, had no part in these changes, which can all be explained by the presence, at the given point, of a victorious or powerful race. In other words, a nation does not derive its value from its position; it never has and never will. On the contrary, it is the people which has always given—and always will give—to the land its moral, economic, and political value. Arthur de Gobineau Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. First volume, 1902, p. 80 Christianity and civilization At the beginning of the seventh chapter of his book, Gobineau takes stock: If my conclusions in the preceding chapters are admitted, two points become increasingly evident: first, that most human races are for ever incapable of civilization, so long as they remain unmixed; secondly, that such races are not only without the inner impulse necessary to start them on the path of improvement, but also that no external force, however energetic in other respects, is powerful enough to turn their congenital barrenness into fertility. Arthur de Gobineau Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. First volume, 1902, p. 81 This statement clearly implies that Gobineau does not believe that a divine power is at play when a people remains inferior or develops into a superior people.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 81 However, he is not an atheist, but considers himself a Christian. As such, he contradicts the Jewish view that only their people were chosen by God and professes the conviction that all races are equally capable of belonging to God's community.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 82 But he sees no connection between whether a people obeys the will of the Christian God and whether that same people achieves civilization.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 83 He acknowledges that Christianity is "civilizing" in that it "makes people more prudent and gentler." However, Christianization leaves a people's way of life—for example, their economy—largely untouched.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 84, 88 Gobineau also sees civilization not only in the Christian world, but points out that there are also pagan, Brahmanic, Buddhist, and Jewish civilizations.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 85 He further argues that different religions have very different thrusts: some religions (such as those of the Romans or Egyptians) were inextricably linked to the state, while others (such as Christianity) aimed, on the contrary, to change the innermost being of man, but wanted to leave the state untouched.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 86 Gobineau also emphasizes that in Christianity, neither genius nor ideas are necessary for salvation and that it has declared that it prefers the weak and the lowly to the powerful.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 88 It demands of each race only what it is capable of and does not encourage intellectual development.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 89 As evidence for his thesis that Christianization does not mean civilization, Gobineau cites the North and South American Indians and the Sámi in Sweden, who, despite being missionized, remained uncivilized.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 90 Gobineau believes that the apostles "almost always originate from a people that is, though not necessarily, advanced" and that, in addition to the faith, they also influence the culture of their converts to a certain extent; but he also believes that the influence of Christianity on morals, laws, and social order is generally overestimated and that inferior peoples, even if they are Christianized, will never produce great artists and thinkers.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 91f As a Christian, Gobineau explicitly rejects the view expressed by some of his contemporaries that the lowest human tribes differ from animals only in degree, but not in quality.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 95 I believe, of course, that human races are unequal; but I do not think that any of them are like the brute, or to be classed with it. The lowest tribe, the most backward and miserable variety of the human species, is at least capable of imitation; and I have no doubt that if we take one of the most hideous bushmen, we could develop—I do not say in him, if he is already grown up, but in his son or at any rate his grandson—sufficient intelligence to make his acts correspond to a certain degree of civilization, even if this required some conscious effort of study on his part. Arthur de Gobineau Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. First volume, 1902, p. 95f Since he sees here – instead of deep learning – only “dexterity” and an ability to imitate, he nevertheless considers it impossible that such a people could achieve a high level of civilization, something that even religion cannot change:Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 96 You may search through all the pages of history, and you will not find a single people that has attained to European civilization by adopting Christianity, or has been brought by the great fact of its conversion to civilize itself when it was not civilized already. Arthur de Gobineau Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. First volume, 1902, p. 98 What is civilization? the section about civilizationGobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 100ff François GuizotFrançois Guizot 1828 Cours d'histoire moderne: Histoire générale de la civilisation en Europe Paris Pichon et Didier https://books.google.com/books?id=t2dZpgyLyaEC Wilhelm von HumboldtWilhelm von Humboldt Über die Kawi-Sprache auf der Insel Java 1838 Berlin Druckerei der Königlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften https://books.google.com/books?id=LJIOAAAAYAAJ In the eighth chapter, Gobineau attempts to define what he means by "civilization," making no distinction between this term and "culture." He begins by emphatically contradicting François Guizot, who considered civilization simply an "event" (in the French original: "un fait") and linked the concept to specific tangible key elements, such as the quality of life of a people and the freedom their government allows them.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 100, 102f Gobineau sees civilization, rather, as "a series, a chain of events linked more or less logically together and brought about by the inter-action of ideas which are often themselves very complex."Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 101 Unlike Guizot, he sees no connection between civilization and form of government and emphasizes that even despotism, although it could endanger the welfare of a nation, does not exclude civilization.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 101 Our subject is more serious. It deals with the very existence of peoples and of civilization; and civilization has to do with certain elemental conditions which are independent of politics, and have to look far deeper for the motive-forces that bring them into being, direct, and expand them, make them fruitful or barren and, in a word, mould their whole life. In face of such root-questions as these, considerations of government, prosperity, and misery naturally take a second place. The first place is always and everywhere held by the question "to be or not to be," which is as supreme for a people as for an individual. Arthur de Gobineau Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. First volume, 1902, p. 102 Like Guizot's, he also rejects Wilhelm von Humboldt's definition, for whom civilization was "the humanizing of peoples both in their outward customs and institutions, and in the inward feelings that correspond to these." He finds this definition too generous and too broad.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 107 He also rejects Humboldt's view that culture and civilization are different things.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 107f For him, "judgment, research, and science", as well as education and art, are fundamental elements of civilization.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 106-108 Gobineau then speaks of civilization when in a population "the racial elements are so strong that they grip almost everything that comes within their reach, and draw it into themselves; they found over immense tracts of territory a supreme dominion resting on a basis of ideas and actions that are more or less perfectly coordinated."Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 112 According to Gobineau, civilization presupposes that a people has developed strong forces aimed at both sensual and material goals and mental ones, which he collectively calls "a civilizing instinct" (un instinct civilisateur). When the sensual-material predominates, he speaks of a "masculine" principle; when the mental predominates, however, of a "feminine" principle.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 113, 116 The masculine principle usually aims for prosperity, while the feminine principle aims for what the imagination desires.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 116f Based on this dichotomy, Gobineau divides peoples into two classes. At the top of the male class, he sees the Chinese, and at the top of the female class, the Hindus. He assigns the Romans and the Germanic tribes to the male class.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 114 I conclude from such facts as these that every human activity, moral or intellectual, has its original source in one or other of these two currents, "male" or "female"; and only the races which have one of these elements in abundance (without, of course, being quite destitute of the other) can reach, in their social life, a satisfactory stage of culture, and so attain to civilization. Arthur de Gobineau Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. First volume, 1902, p. 115 Civilization Gobineau defines civilization "as a state of relative stability, where the mass of men try to satisfy their wants by peaceful means, and are refined in their conduct and intelligence."Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 118 Gobineau values ​​male societies, which he also calls male races, more highly than female ones, since "useful inventions" are produced only by the former, while he gives little value to "idealistic daydreaming."Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 120 Within Europe, he sees significant "material instincts" only in the "Teutonic group and some of the Slavs". He understands the culture with which he identifies himself as a product of "the mingling of the Germanic tribes with the races of the ancient world, the union, that is to say, of pre-eminently male groups with races and fragments of races clinging to the decayed remnants of the ancient ideas".Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 121 He sees the fundamental characteristics of this civilization in the influences - most importantly - of the "Germanic element" and - less importantly - of Christianity.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 122 According to Gobineau, the weakness of Greco-Roman civilization was that it was not based on a solid foundation and therefore had developed too little inner strength and steadiness; nor does it really reach the masses of the people.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 126f In France, too, he notices that only a small social upper class is civilized, while the mass of the population is regionally highly heterogeneous, hostile to education and civilization, and economically and culturally underdeveloped.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 128-134 Because he considers France's traces of civilization to be unstable, and because the masses do not believe in it, he does not consider the criteria for civilization in the sense of his definition to be met here.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 136 He further criticizes that France has produced neither artistic superlatives nor refined customs.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 137 The cause of this inadequacy, he sees in a racial weakness of the French people.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 138 Origin and development of human races Monogenism vs. polygenism this sectionGobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 141-154, 161, 176 James Cowles PrichardJames Cowles Prichard Natural History of Man 1843 London Baillière https://archive.org/details/naturalhistorym00norrgoog Petrus CamperPetrus Camper Verhandeling over het natuurlijk verschil der wezenstrekken in menschen van onderscheiden landaart en ouderdom; over hat schoon in antyke beelden en gesneedene steenen B. Wild, J. Altheer Utrecht 1791 https://books.google.de/books?id=t4VbAAAAcAAJ Richard Owen Johann Friedrich BlumenbachJohann Friedrich Blumenbach De generis humani varietate nativa Friedrich Andreas Rosenbusch Göttingen 1775 https://diglib.hab.de/wdb.php?dir=drucke/mc-15&pointer=12 Carl Gustav CarusCarl Gustav Carus Über die ungleiche Befähigung der verschiedenen Menschenstämme für höhere geistige Entwicklung 1849 Leipzig Brockhaus https://archive.org/details/ueberungleichebe00caruuoft Samuel George Morton Hiob LudolfHiob Ludolf Historia aethiopica Zunner Frankfurt 1681 Charles PickeringCharles Pickering Races of Man and their Geographical Distribution 1848 Volume 9 of the reports of the United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-42, under command of Charles Wilkes Gerardus VrolikGerardus Vrolik Beschouwing van het verschil der bekkens in onderscheidene volkstammen J. van der Hey Amsterdam 1826 Moritz Ignaz WeberMoritz Ignaz Weber Ein neuer Beitrag zur Lehre von der Conformität des Kopfs und Beckens Bonn 1823 Nova Acta Physico-Medica Academiae Caesareae Leopoldino-Carolinae Naturae Curiosorum 11.2. John BarrowJohn Barrow Travels into The Interior of Southern Africa London T. Cadell And W. Davies 1806 https://archive.org/details/travelsintointe00barrgoog August Ludwig Schlözer Auguste de GérandoAuguste de Gérando Essai historique sur l’origine des Hongrois Paris Imp. de Guiraudet et Jouaust 1844 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/30395 Georges CuvierGeorges Cuvier Discours sur les révolutions de la surface du globe 1822 https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1106958.pdf Some racial theorists adhere to monogenism, the view that all human races have the same origin and only later diverged. Others, however, advocate polygenism, the view that humanity originated from the outset as a plurality of independently evolving races. Gobineau's sympathy is definitely with the polygenists, but in the end he gives in - clearly reluctantly - to the stronger factual arguments of the monogenists.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 179, 185 In this section of his book, Gobineau reports in detail on the physical characteristics of the human races that have been discussed in the debate about monogenism and polygenism: in particular, the shape of the skull and face, the shape of the pelvis, skin color, and the texture of the hair; these differ so noticeably among the individual races that Gobineau is strongly inclined towards polygenism.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 141-154 He particularly strongly rejects the monogenists' belief that all races, because they have the same origin, are equally capable of perfection.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 156 He also finds the belief that racial differences are solely due to influences of climate, location, and habits to be untenable, because, in his estimation, many peoples whose settlement areas and lifestyles differ greatly nevertheless share the same physical characteristics.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 160-162 A compelling argument of the monogenists, which even Gobineau cannot escape, is that human racial hybrids - unlike animal hybrids - are obviously fertile. However, he argues that humans, like animals, regularly show a strong reluctance to mate with individuals who are not of their own kind.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 155 The second, in his view even stronger, argument for monogenism is that the Book of Genesis also does not allow for multiple descent of the human species. However, he reads Genesis as the history of the White race. The fact that theologians have traced the Black race back to the patriarch Ham strikes him as mere interpretation and questionable; the "Yellow peoples," for example, are not even mentioned in the Bible.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 157 Gobineau assumes that the characteristics of individual human races have not changed in the last three millennia and regrets that the genesis of races apparently took place at such an early stage in human history that it—like the question of monogenism and polygenism—eludes research; since he ignores prehistory and equates the beginning of human history with that of antiquity, he assumes that humanity is a maximum of 7,000 years old.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 162-167, 179f, 183, 225 In a later book of this essay, he cites Karl Richard Lepsius as the source for this figure.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Zweiter Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 1 He suggests that anthropogenesis immediately followed a time in which the Earth was characterized by the harshest geological and climatic conditions.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 194 The existing races constitute separate branches of one or many primitive stocks. These stocks have now vanished. They are not known in historical times at all, and we cannot form even the most general idea of their qualities. They differed from each other in the shape and proportion of the limbs, the structure of the skull, the internal conformation of the body, the nature of the capillary system, the colour of the skin, and the like; and they never succeeded in losing their characteristic features except under the powerful influence of the crossing of blood. Arthur de Gobineau Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. First volume, 1902, p. 178f Constancy of race characteristics Gobineau believes that the various human races are separate and distinctly different, that they have remained unchanged in their characteristics for at least three millennia, and that they cannot be changed by environmental factors; the only factor that allows for change at all is racial mixing.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 167, 178 He supports his thesis that the characteristics of races no longer change and are unchangeable, among other things, by saying that experience shows that individuals who have abnormal hereditary characteristics die young and are therefore unable to produce their own lineages.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 184f The three elements of mankind: White, Yellow, and Black people this sectionGobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 188, 196, 199 Georges Cuvier Charles LyellCharles (1830-1833) Lyell Principles of Geology Alexander von HumboldtAlexander von (1814-1834) Humboldt Examen critique de l'histoire de la géographie du nouveau continent Jean Pierre Flourens Johann Friedrich Blumenbach James Cowles Prichard Carl Gustav Carus Georges Cuvier assumed that the early peoples could have escaped the Biblical Flood only at high altitudes, and therefore, in 1822, he suggested that the major human races had their origins in specific mountain ranges: the White in the Caucasus (Ararat myth), the Yellow in the Altai, and the Black in the Atlas.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 188f Gobineau rejects this, convinced that the different races had evolved before the Flood, and that they had already had the opportunity to spread widely, even under primitive conditions.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 189-191 Gobineau, following Jean Pierre Flourens, still distinguishes three "pure archetypes" in the human race, which he also refers to as "secondary types": a White one, a Black one, and a Yellow one. He does not recognize the "Red race" of America, often referred to in contemporary literature, in this system.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 195, 281 So I may say, once for all, that I understand by White men the members of those races which are also called Caucasian, Semitic, or Japhetic. By Black men I mean the Hamites; by Yellow the Altaic, Mongol, Finnish, and Tatar branches. These are the three primitive elements of mankind. Arthur de Gobineau Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. First volume, 1902, p. 196 By postulating only three races, Gobineau deviates from Blumenbach and Prichard; the former had postulated 28 varieties, the latter seven. Racial purity and racial mixing Gobineau admits that these original types included all sorts of varieties from the outset, i.e., before any crossbreeding between the three main groups could have taken place.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 196 However, he cites the degree of similarity that the individual members of a group have to each other as the most important indicator of the purity of a race; heterogeneity, on the other hand, is always a result of crossbreeding. As an example, he cites the Polynesians, who are the result of crossbreeding between the Black and Yellow races.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 197 He speaks here of a "tertiary type".Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 198 As another example, he cites the mulattos.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 200 Gobineau emphasizes that tertiary types do not constitute independent new races, but are characterized by "confusion" and "disorder," and that they do not simply represent the fusion of two races, but also the emergence of entirely new characteristics that then become characteristic of this type.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 198f He also postulates "quaternary races," which are the result of the mixing of "tertiary races", or of a tertiary race with a secondary race, and beyond that, countless even more complex mixtures: "No limits, except the horror evoked by the possibility of infinite intermixing, can be assigned to the number of these hybrid and variegated races that make up all of humankind."Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 199f, 282 Gobineau does not categorically reject racial mixing, but rather sees some advantages in it. "Artistic genius, which is equally foreign to each of the three great types, arose only after the intermarriage of White and Black." As another example, he mentions the Malays, who emerged as a result of a mixture of the White and Yellow races, and who are intellectually superior to both. Furthermore, in many cultures, racial mixing has also led to "the refinement of manners and beliefs, and especially the tempering of passion and desire."Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 283 However, according to Gobineau, the history of humankind would have unfolded ideally if the "secondary races" had not intermixed, and if the two inferior races had permanently submitted to the superior White race.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 282 In particular, he deplores that racial mixing had diluted the original advantages of the White race (beauty, intelligence, strength), and that even where a high percentage of White blood still exists, they could hardly be found in their original combination anymore.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 284 And although he had initially put this into perspective, he finally writes: "There is no greater curse than such disorder [...]".Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 286 In individuals, he sees racial purity as directly correlated with vigor (French: vigueur).Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Zweiter Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 19 Gobineau emphasizes several times in his essay that today one cannot say much about the exact appearance of the secondary races, because due to the millennia-long history of mixing, they have long ago stopped producing racially pure representatives.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Zweiter Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 19 Mutual repulsion between races Already in the section on racial degeneration, Gobineau had explained that individual races repel each other, with superior races in particular feeling repelled by inferior ones, while conversely, inferior races often feel attracted to superior ones. He had thus attempted to explain why, despite a "natural" repulsion between races, common offspring could be produced.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 38 In Chapter 14, he returns to this theme and illustrates the antipathy that peoples and races have for one another using a series of historical examples. His primary concern here is to show why peoples remain alien to one another and do not align their civilizations, despite the good example some may set for others.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 228 He concludes that civilization is incommunicable.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 229 Only when blood mixing occurs between a superior and an inferior people can elements of the superior civilization be adopted by the subjugated people, although the two peoples must not be too different in terms of blood.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 230 If two races differ greatly from each other, Gobineau is convinced that they can never come into productive contact with each other in the sense that the inferior race can learn and receive inspiration from the superior one.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 232f Likewise, a fusion between the two is impossible. Gobineau draws on several examples of ancient contacts between peoples (e.g., Persia and Greece) to demonstrate that their civilizations never merged into one, but rather, despite close contact, always continued to exist in parallel.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 233-239 Differences between races; racial hierarchy Like most racial theorists of his time, Gobineau attributes to the different races not only different physical characteristics, but also unequal value and different intellectual abilities. He sees – believing beauty to be an objective, measurable fact – a hierarchy of physical beauty among the different races and declares the White race to be the most beautiful, while classifying Blacks—namely the natives of Australia and of Tierra del Fuego—as the ugliest race.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 142f, 202f He also sees Whites as superior to all others in terms of enduring muscular strength.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 204f Gobineau vigorously denies that the various human races all possess the same potential for moral and intellectual perfection.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 206f At this point, he emphasizes that he is concerned with pure group characteristics; he explicitly does not want to rule out the possibility that there may be individuals in all races who are exceptionally capable.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 241 Gobineau is not quite clear about the criterion by which he intends to measure the value of individual races. At one point, he explains that he intends to base his calculations on the intelligence (in French: "le degré d'intelligence") of the respective population.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 242 Elsewhere in the text, however, he explains that he wants to measure the intellectual capacity of peoples not by the intelligence of randomly selected individuals, but rather by the respective civilization. For him, the fact that civilization is not equally developed in different peoples and that different civilizations also have such great differences is in itself proof of the existence of races.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 225, 227 However, he assumes that—regardless of race—there are strict limits to human moral and intellectual growth and the acquisition of knowledge in general, that the ancients sometimes even knew more than their contemporaries, and that animals often behave better than humans.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 207-224 Race and language the section about languageGobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 253f, 257 Wilhelm von Humboldt Silvestre de SacySilvestre de Sacy Mémoire sur deux provinces de la Perse orientale. Le Gardjestan et le Djouzdjan Paris Fr. Buisson 1813 Karl Otfried MüllerKarl Otfried Müller Die Etrusker Josef Max und Komp. Breslau 1828 Christian KefersteinChristian (1846-1851) Keferstein Ansichten über die keltischen Alterthümer, die Kelten überhaupt und besonders in Teutschland Halle C. A. Schwetzke und Sohn William Frédéric EdwardsWilliam Frédéric edwards Des caractères physiologiques des races humaines considérés dans leurs rapports avec l'histoire 1829 Chez Compère Jeune Paris https://archive.org/details/descaractresphy01edwagoog Alcide d'OrbignyAlcide d' (1824-1847) Orbigny La Relation du Voyage dans l'Amérique Méridionale pendant les années 1826 à 1833 Paris Gobineau believes that race and language are very closely related.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 261 While he could not give in to his impulse to embrace polygenism regarding the origin of races because of the stronger arguments of the monogenists, he is completely certain about the assumption that the major language families (Altaic, Indo-Iranian, and Semitic) arose independently of one another. Unlike contemporary linguists, he sees no connection between them at all.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 246 He argues that there must have been independent origins, "because there were many forms of thought and feeling."Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 247 Following the general ideas of Wilhelm von Humboldt, Gobineau assumes that "the language of a race is closely bound up with its intelligence, and has the power of reflecting its various mental stages, as they are reached."Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 254 For this reason, he writes, the language of the ancient Greeks and the ancient Indians was more highly developed than today's English, French, and German, classifying a language as highly developed if it is "of philosophic depth, of aesthetic beauty and flexibility, rich in characteristic forms and precise idioms, fitted alike to express the sublimities of religion, the graces of poetry, the accuracy of physical and political science".Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 244f, 259 In particular, the beauty of a language appears to him as "being an excellent index of the general elevation of races" and "in a special degree the measure of their aesthetic capacities."Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 259 I may thus lay it down, as a universal axiom, that the hierarchy of languages is in strict correspondence with the hierarchy of races. Arthur de Gobineau Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. First volume, 1902, p. 277 However, Gobineau also acknowledges that language is a complex phenomenon, that it does not always provide an indication of the level of civilization of its speakers, and that it can deteriorate when different races intermix.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 244-276 The three "secondary races" in detail The Black race In earlier sections of the book, Gobineau had already mentioned, in a somewhat scattered manner, certain "characteristics" of what he called the "Black race." For example, he had described its members as particularly ugly. In the final chapter of the first book, which he actually introduces as a summary, he provides a more comprehensive characterization: The negroid variety is the lowest, and stands at the foot of the ladder. The animal character, that appears in the shape of the pelvis, is stamped on the negro from birth, and foreshadows his destiny. His intellect will always move within a very narrow circle. He is not however a mere brute, for behind his low receding brow, in the middle of his skull, we can see signs of a powerful energy, however crude its objects. If his mental faculties are dull or even non-existent, he often has an intensity of desire, and so of will, which may be called terrible. Many of his senses, especially taste and smell, are developed to an extent unknown to the other two races. Arthur de Gobineau Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. First volume, 1902, pp. 278f Other typical characteristics that Gobineau attributes to Black people include a lack of disgust towards repulsive food or unpleasant odors, superficial and fickle emotions, a lack of inhibition against killing, and sudden shifts between cowardice and indifferent passive suffering.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 279 The Yellow race According to Gobineau, the Yellow race is physically, especially in terms of skull shape, "the exact opposite" of the Black race. He describes their level of energy—both physical and emotional—as low.Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 280 His desires are feeble, his will-power rather obstinate than violent; his longing for material pleasures, though constant, is kept within bounds. A rare glutton by nature, he shows far more discrimination in his choice of food. He tends to mediocrity in everything; he understands easily enough anything not too deep or sublime. He has a love of utility and a respect for order, and knows the value of a certain amount of freedom. He is practical, in the narrowest sense of the word. He does not dream or theorize; he invents little, but can appreciate and take over what is useful to him. His whole desire is to live in the easiest and most comfortable way possible. The Yellow races are thus clearly superior to the Black. Arthur de Gobineau Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. First volume, 1902, p. 280 In his racial hierarchy, Gobineau places the Yellow race in a position between the Black and White races. The White race Gobineau attributes the most favorable characteristics to the White race, which he had already described earlier as being the strongest and most physically beautiful: These are gifted with reflective energy, or rather with an energetic intelligence. They have a feeling for utility, but in a sense far wider and higher, more courageous and ideal, than the Yellow races; a perseverance that takes account of obstacles and ultimately finds a means of overcoming them; a greater physical power, an extraordinary instinct for order, not merely as a guarantee of peace and tranquillity, but as an indispensable means of self-preservation. At the same time, they have a remarkable, and even extreme, love of liberty, and are openly hostile to the formalism under which the Chinese are glad to vegetate, as well as to the strict despotism which is the only way of governing the negro. Arthur de Gobineau Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. First volume, 1902, pp. 280f Other characteristics that he attributes to White people include valuing and respecting life, making good use of life, a strong sense of honor and culture, and an "immense superiority of White people in all intellectual fields," which is "balanced by an inferiority in the intensity of their emotions."Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 281 According to Gobineau, it is history itself that has revealed the destination of the White race: It shows us that all civilizations derive from the White race, that none can exist without its help, and that a society is great and brilliant only so far as it preserves the blood of the noble group that created it, provided that this group itself belongs to the most illustrious branch of our species. Arthur de Gobineau Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. First volume, 1902, p. 285 In reference to the White race, Gobineau also speaks of "the nobility of our own species". Ten peoples that formed complete societies Gobineau concludes the first book with a list of ten ancient peoples who, in his opinion, formed "complete societies." What they had in common was that their civilization was initiated by members of the white race, in most cases by members of a subset of the white race, whom he calls "Aryans":Gobineau Arthur de Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen. Erster Band 2 1902 Stuttgart Fr. Frommann 285-289 the Assyrians (see Book 2) the Egyptians (see Book 2) the Indian civilization (see Book 3) the Chinese civilization (see Book 3) the Greeks the ancient civilization of the Italian peninsula from which the Romans emerged the Germanic races the Alleghanian civilization the Mexican civilization the Peruvian civilization Next Continue to Book 2. References Category:Book:Scientific racism in Germany