Essai sur l'Inégalité des Races humaines

by Arthur de Gobineau

Book, 1853-1855

Status

Available

Call number

901

Publication

Paris: Firmin Didot, 1853-1855. 4 vols. English edition 1856 (Nott and Hotze: Moral and Intellectual Diversity of Races). German edition 1897: Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenrassen. Later English editions: The Inequality of Human Races

Description

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1915 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XVI RECAPITULATION; THE RESPECTIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE THREE GREAT RACES; THE SUPERIORITY OF THE WHITE TYPE, AND, WITHIN THIS TYPE, OF THE ARYAN FAMILY I Have shown the unique place in the organic world occupied by the human species, the profound physical, as well as moral, differences separating it from all other kinds of living creatures. Considering it by itself, I have been able to distinguish, on physiological grounds alone, three great and clearly marked types, the black, the yellow, and the white. However uncertain the aims of physiology may be, however meagre its resources, however defective its methods, it can proceed thus far with absolute certainty. Jhg rigger 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.* -- The very strength of his sensations is the most striking proof of his inferiority. All food is good in his eyes, nothing disgusts or repels him. What he desires is to eat, to eat furiously, and to excess; no carrion is too revolting to be swallowed by him. It * "Taste and smell in the negro are as powerful as they are undiscriminating. He eats everything, and odours which are revolting to us are pleasant...… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member alexperlloni
Maybe important to understand historical misconceptions about human races. Although Gobineau is not the father of Nazi Germany's ideas of aryan superiority he has been recognized as one of the fathers of modern racism.

Language

Local notes

"Qu'Adam soit l'auteur de notre espèce blanche, il faut l'admettre certainement."
White race superior to Black and Yellow, and Aryans superior within White race.
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