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The Inequality of Human Races

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Frenchman Arthur De Gobineau was better known for his fictional novels, but he wrote this historical-philosophical-sociological work in the 1800's as a result of his lengthy travels throughout the world. Gobineau took his observations and attempted to come up with a theory that would describe the disparity he observed amongst the different human races of the world. The result was a multi-volume set entitled, "The Inequality of Human Races". This translation is of the first volume only, but it reveals the main thrust of De Gobineau's theory and gives the reader much information to mull over. I chose to read this book for a European history class, since this book influenced not only German political and social thought, but also reinforced European views towards colonization and internal class struggles.

Gobineau begins his book by looking at popular reasons concerning the collapse of civilizations. Such ideas as bad government, fanaticism and luxury are addressed and dismissed by Gobineau. He believes these are only symptoms of a degeneration of civilizations. His argument ultimately comes down to race mixing as the cause of the decline of civilization. Gobineau argues that civilizations that mix with peoples that are incapable of civilization will destroy that society. In Gobineau's opinion, all problems can be found in "the blood", and these problems can be passed on. Gobineau writes that there are two elements in blood, a male trait, which is concerned with materialistic aspirations, and a female trait, which is concerned with intellectual pursuits. He sees Hindus as having this female trait, which accounts for their intellectual works in religion. Germans have the male trait, a materialistic drive to acquire land and possessions; to go forth and conquer. When these elements mix, the varying degrees can form or destroy civilizations. Gobineau also looks at such things as language, which he says can exhibit traits of civilization. Lesser people can destroy a language by the fusion of their language with the better one.

Gobineau is also an elitist. He looks at French peasants and argues that the vast majority of them are completely uninterested in what constitutes civilization, and are capable of only following the lead of the civilized.

Sound confusing? It is. This book will take multiple readings to tease out everything Gobineau is trying to say. My biggest problem with the book is Gobineau's efforts to reduce the ills of the world to such a troubling argument. Does Gobineau make a case for his subject? Well, yes, if you lived in the nineteenth century.

An interesting book, and one that has had far reaching effects, even up to today. Whatever the reader thinks, Gobineau can't be dismissed as some irrelevant nutcase. His arguments are still being discussed today, which proves the importance of this topic. Good reading for the historian or sociologist.

A historical document. However its racist content makes it scandalous and it will probably make it unavailable. Is a Rolls-Royce better than a Ferrari? What kind of dog is the best? I dont know but one thing is sure, they are different. Count Gobineau made his choice with human races judging their value by their achievements, but this is not a racist tiresome speech, Gobineau is a good argumentator, and good writer that uses history to prove he is right. The book is a good one with only one problem, its subject. As dangerous books do not exist if you're not a dangerous reader, this essay can be recommended.

The cover design is sneakily but clumsily tendentious, isn't it: a weaving of the nazi swastika? Come on! Can we have some tolerance for different perspectives without pigeoholing?

A new humanity beyond the petty differences of color and race, forged out of respect and organic acceptance for what each race and culture has to offer to make humanity whole? Who could possibly argue with that? Indeed, if you think the world today has become a better place as a result of mixing of ideas, cultures, and values-in addition to peoples (blood and seeds)-then you should read this book. If you think disagree, then you should also read this book.

This is a dangerous book, but not because it is incendiary per se, but because it contains one man (an aristocrat)'s observation about the world. So where is the danger in that? It lies in the fact that we (post) moderns can no longer penetrate-today, we only know how to dissect-with empathy (not necessarily agreement!) the kind of worldview that would have been held by intellectual aristocrats of the old school..
Thus our inability to understand a particular perspective can only force us to denounce it as elitist rubbish, or worse: (mis)appropriate it to add to our personal arsenal to better defend our own pet peeves about, and still profit by, what is NOT right about the world today.

Regardless of your opinions about the issue of race, if you do not have the detachment and breadth of vision of a historian, then you might as well forget about reading this short but fascinating book. If you are a knee-jerk liberal or a closet-nazi, you will likely come off the worse for having read De Gobineau.

What if the book had been "On the Inequality of the Organs"? Really, if you were in a situation whereby you had to lose one of your organs, would you not pass judgment on your dearly lovable organs and sacrifice one and not another? Suffice to say, the eyes would not be on the top of the list. Even your organs are "unequal" in that sense.

First of all, this is not a "scientific" book, not any more than De Tocqueville's _Democracy in America_ is. It is a book of gentlemanly insights, recorded in a very gentlemanly language. This book and the author belong to the long tradition of true aristocraticism (of which pure scholarship / professorship is but a part) that confidently relied on the subjective power of experience and "reasonably convincing" argument rather than scientific proof. But this tradition is now something we no longer (want to) understand or tolerate as we are now so accustomed to striving to "win," in the most litigious manner, every trivial argument.

Second, De Gobineau wrote this largely in response to the then current opinions about the implications of the new discoveries in science. But, as far as I can see, there is no venom in his views, no petty-minded put-down of other races for the ignominious pleasure of it. Only the reader who has preemptive hatred for the very word "racism" can come away from this book thinking that De Gobineau was a narrow-minded, nasty racist in the narrow, nasty, politically-overcharged sense in which we use the word today.

For want of space, let me mention only the potentially most controversial issue: physical beauty. De Gobineau explains why he accepts the tri-partite division of humanity into three primary races: white, yellow and black; with various amalgamations thereof. The author believes that the white race is blessed with the most pleasing physical beauty and proportion of limbs. In other words, the greatest number of physically beautiful persons is found among the many branches of the white race. He says "the other races approach beauty but never quite attain it."
He also says that Italians are the most beautiful among the European branch of the white race. That is his observation. (And that of many people all over the world, whether expressed secretly, openly, with envy or a grudge.) Today, many consider Italian design to be superior to all others. Is there a connection?

It is not my intention to either defend or ridicule De Gobineau's observations-whether true or absurd. However, in the name of fairness, I must point out (without proper argumentation) that the white race has come to dominate the world today on scale hitherto unimaginable. And this domination is not just in the realms of economy, technology, and values, but more consequentially, in fashion: that is to say, the marketing of physical beauty based on the white ideal.
It remains a curious and undeniable fact that in every civilization throughout history, people preferred lighter skin and sharper facial features even among their own kind. Universally, the sky was the home of the gods, and gold was reserved for ceremonies and the highest offices. Then from over the horizon comes a race of men, with sky-blue eyes and golden hair. Indo-Europeans reveled in the pleasure of seeing the body naked in their art, whereas the Chinese decided it was better left covered with elegant flowing robes. Why?
Whatever biology may have to say about this phenomenon will not likely change what most people prefer innately-aesthetically, prior to any intervention by education and culture.

De Gobineau's claim is simple, if intolerable to some: the phenomenon of race is real, that is to say, observable on a physical level. Different races (and nations) have different attributes, abilities, and endowments, hence different fates. The French, he claims, are the most mixed people in Europe, possibly the world. Thus, they have the same but much attenuated attributes of the original strong races that conquered the weaker. But only in the mixing of races does humanity actually move forward in civilization. And because the French are such a mixed race, they are more capable than any other of producing brilliant ideas that are, however, divorced from the sustaining power of tradition, ideas that are in the long run, hazardous to its own survival. A real yin-yang way of looking at the operation and consequences of racial mixing.

If you have the ability to keep the baby as you throw out the bathwater, you will find that there is a lot to think about here. De Gobineau's straight thinking is a lot more complex, and fair-minded, than we have been conditioned to believe a "racist" to be capable of. Read it and be a more tolerant person.

_The Inequality of the Human Races_ by Count Arthur de Gobineau is a prophetic work from the nineteenth century which shows the differences between the principle racial groups in terms of their civilizing influence. De Gobineau was a French aristocrat and racialist who had an influence on Richard Wagner and is believed to be a proto-Nazi theorist. Like Nietzsche, de Gobineau took a rather grim view of religion as a civilizing influence and argued against "slave-morality". This book expounds his racial theories. The book begins by making the case that racial differences can in fact explain differences in civilization and achievement. De Gobineau argues that neither luxury, effeminacy, misgovernment, fanaticism, nor the corruption of morals is responsible for the decline and destruction of states, civilizations, and peoples, but that instead the mixing of the blood leads to this decline. De Gobineau also argues in a series of successive chapters that racial inequalities are not the result of institutions, the regions in which one lives, or the civilizing influence of Christianity. He then proceeds to outline a series of comparisons between races and explains the differences between civilizations. De Gobineau argues that the white race is more capable of achieving great civilization than either the yellow or the black race, and he explains various intermixtures of these three races. The Aryan influence on high culture cannot be denied, and de Gobineau explains his theory of Aryan supremacy. For de Gobineau, there exist a male and female element within the blood. The male element constitutes a "material current" (Purusha), and the female element constitutes an "intellectual current" (Prakriti). De Gobineau then goes on to place different races into each of these two categories, placing the Chinese first among the male category and the Hindus first among the female category. De Gobineau also discusses differences between beauty and languages among the races. De Gobineau argues that the races are intellectually unequal and that different civilizations are mutually repulsive. De Gobineau ends this book with a recapitulation of the differences between black, yellow, and white races, noting the superiority of the white race and the Aryan family within that race. He also includes a section outlining the great civilizations and their achievements.

I have little to say on the content of the book. It has been elegantly said elsewhere. I just wanted to warn everyone NOT TO GET THIS EDITION! It is missing whole pages of the original, mixes in footnotes with the actual text, and overall looks like a scan anyone could do. I am angry I spent $15 on something of this poor quality. Yes, they warn you of the typos, but LEAVING OUT PAGES?

I bought this book for historical purposes and curiosity only. Because of my background and education, I was highly skeptical of the racist premise. After reading the book, I have come to respect the highly prophetic observations of De Gobineau. Although he did not have the benefit of modern genetic and sociological research, and made several scientific mistakes, De Gobineau accurately foresaw the scientific future. De Gobineau's views were out of favor for many years, but modern research confirms his theories and scientific genius. Genetics and race are directly related to individual intelligence and the advancement of a society. De Gobineau is the "Einstein" of sociology and genetics. A great historical book.

This review is for the General Books LLC edition.

This edition is terrible. Sentences are mixed, the book is filled with unnecessary punctuation marks, a clear sign of computer error etc. I'm sorry that I have to talk of the edition, but it is truly a disgrace, and it is not worth it. Buy another edition.

As for the book itself, it is an important source for understanding the development of Racialism in Europe and generally in political thought, an idea which led to its climax as the foundation of Nazism.

Firstly we must remember when this author was writing-science was still in its infancy and "racial science" was, at the time, accepted. Now this has been since disproven, however this book shows the attitudes, stereotypes and prejudices at the time which were commonplace and well ingrained.

We can comment, but to be honest its useless to offer anti racist criticism on something which has been scientifically dis proven and for a text written so long ago. For writers at the time what we call racism was a norm just like sexism among other things. We should be thankful we can look on this with disgust, but must separate this from the historical and political insight the text offers.

So a good book for historical/political reference and context, but NOT proof or justification for modern day racism and prejudice. Surely this book proves how outdated such views really are?

Count Arthur de Gobineau's essay _The Inequality of Human Races_ has long been lambasted for being the seminal document of nineteenth century racism and an influence on Nazism nearly one hundred years after it was originally written. Gobineau, a member of the French aristocracy, first published his book during the 1850s coinciding with the advent of Darwin's _Origin of Species_ and the rise of evolutionary theory. The current English language publisher, Howard Fertig Inc., describes the book as "the basic document which puts forward racism as a world view." Howard Fertig publishes books by George L. Mosse who has written extensively on the history of irrationalism in Europe and especially on the Nazi and Fascist regimes, so the cover's "swastika design" does not mean the publisher endorses Neo-Nazism, as other reviewers seem to think. The same publisher also offers a translation of another incendiary text popular with Nazis written a few generations after Gobineau in the early 1900s: Otto Weininger's _Sex and Character_. Gobineau's essay is not virulently hateful or prejudiced against other races, at least not more so than other anthropological literature of the time. Nor is he entirely content with his progressive, technologically advanced Europe of the 1800s. Gobineau explains that it is pretentious at best to believe mankind is capable of infinite progress in the scientific and technical sphere because human nature, human perception of the environment and human conception of the cosmos and reality itself is fundamentally limited. The ancient civilizations especially of Greece and Hindu India were much less scientific and technological than modern Europe but they were far superior to ours as far as the arts, religion and philosophy were concerned. Greece left its temples and statues while France, Germany, Britain and America seem destined to leave ruins behind, and a mass of moldering books stuffed in libraries about transitory, dated knowledge and little else. He attributes the collapse of civilization to racial intermixture. According to Gobineau, the original founders of all civilization were white Aryans who originated in the steppes of Asia and spread southward into India, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Europe, and East Asia and even to the Americas. They conquered the yellow and black races and eventual intermixture spawned the numerous mixed races seen around the world today among who are the Arabs, Turks, Jews, Huns and various other peoples. Gobineau addresses Christianity as a possible civilizing force. He concludes the Christianity has in no account civilized any tribe--white missionaries have. However, Gobineau explains that supreme credit is due to the teachings of Christ because they do not address social life. Christianity is a religion of the Sprit and prayer and does not rely on any type of social structure, civilization structure or government, either tyrannical, democratic, monarchial, liberal, authoritarian or otherwise to get its message across. This is well attested by the fact that the Church has flourished in all corners of the globe amongst every possible race imaginable. Gobineau ascribes to an unorthodox interpretation of the Genesis account of creation and his anthropology is of course dated and lacking. He attributes the origins of the white race to Adam but is uncertain about the other races. According to Genesis, all races are descended from Adam but it is a mark of fallen humanity that they are divided into different nations and speak different tongues. The Tower of Babel was man's failed attempt to create a kingdom based on universal human brotherhood instead of divine order: they all spoke the same tongue and tried to reach heaven but God scattered them to the ends of the earth. Therefore Gobineau is no closer to understanding the origins of humanity any more than today's Boasian anthropologists and Darwinists who believe what observable racial inequalities that exist are "merely a social construct." With today's widespread and media encouraged miscegenation, we are seeing the same rebellion against the Spirit that Gobineau was beginning to witness in the 1800s. It is also unlikely that whites have been responsible for all civilizations, especially since Gobineau never quite defines exactly who constitutes an Aryan and who does not.

An incredibly well-written and eye opening book. I strongly urge everyone to read this with an open mind, it just may help clear out all the propaganda that has been crammed into the minds of the general public.