Читать книгу The Moral and Intellectual Diversity of Races - comte de Arthur Gobineau - Страница 3

 ANALYTICAL INTRODUCTION.The discussion of the moral and intellectual diversity of races totally independent of the question of unity or plurality of origin—Leading propositions of this volume, with illustrations and comments.

 CHAPTER I. POLITICAL CATASTROPHES.Perishable condition of all human societies—Ancient ideas concerning this phenomenon—Modern theories 105

 CHAPTER II. ALLEGED CAUSES OF POLITICAL CATASTROPHES EXAMINED.Fanaticism—Aztec Empire of Mexico.—Luxury—Modern European States as luxurious as the ancient.—Corruption of morals—The standard of morality fluctuates in the various periods of a nation's history: example, France—Is no higher in youthful communities than in old ones—Morality of Paris.—Irreligion—Never spreads through all ranks of a nation—Greece and Rome—Tenacity of Paganism 114

 CHAPTER III. INFLUENCE OF GOVERNMENT UPON THE LONGEVITY OF NATIONS.Misgovernment defined—Athens, China, Spain, Germany, Italy, etc.—Is not in itself a sufficient cause for the ruin of nations. 138

 CHAPTER IV. DEFINITION OF THE WORD DEGENERACY—ITS CAUSE.Skeleton history of a nation—Origin of castes, nobility, etc.—Vitality of nations not necessarily extinguished by conquest—China, Hindostan—Permanency of their peculiar civilizations. 146

 CHAPTER V. THE MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL DIVERSITY OF RACES IS NOT THE RESULT OF POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS.Antipathy of races—Results of their mixture—The scientific axiom of the absolute equality of men, but an extension of the political—Its fallacy—Universal belief in unequal endowment of races—The moral and intellectual diversity of races not attributable to institutions—Indigenous institutions are the expression of popular sentiments; when foreign and imported, they never prosper—Illustrations: England and France—Roman Empire—European Colonies—Sandwich Islands—St. Domingo—Jesuit missions in Paraguay 172

 CHAPTER VI. THIS DIVERSITY IS NOT THE RESULT OF GEOGRAPHICAL SITUATION.America—Ancient empires—Phenicians and Romans—Jews—Greece and Rome—Commercial cities of Europe—Isthmus of Darien 201

 CHAPTER VII. INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY UPON MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL DIVERSITY OF RACES.The term Christian civilization examined—Reasons for rejecting it—Intellectual diversity no hindrance to the universal diffusion of Christianity—Civilizing influence of Christian religion by elevating and purifying the morals, etc.; but does not remove intellectual disparities—Various instances—Cherokees—Difference between imitation and comprehension of civilized life 215

 INTRODUCTORY NOTE TO CHAPTERS VIII. AND IX.Rapid survey of the populations comprised under the appellation "Teutonic"—Their present ethnological area, and leading characteristics—Fondness for the sea displayed by the Teutonic tribes of Northwestern Europe, and perceptible in their descendants 234

 CHAPTER VIII. CIVILIZATION.Mr. Guizot's and Mr. W. von Humboldt's definitions examined. Its elements 246

 CHAPTER IX. ELEMENTS OF CIVILIZATION—CONTINUED.Definition of the term—Specific differences of civilizations—Hindoo, Chinese, European, Greek, and Roman civilizations—Universality of Chinese civilization—Superficiality of ours—Picture of the social condition of France 272

 CHAPTER X. QUESTION OF UNITY OR PLURALITY OF RACES.Systems of Camper, Blumenbach, Morton, Carus—Investigations of Owen, Vrolik, Weber—Prolificness of hybrids, the great scientific stronghold of the advocates of unity of species 312

 CHAPTER XI. PERMANENCY OF TYPES.The language of Holy Writ in favor of common origin—The permanency of their characteristics separates the races of men as effectually as if they were distinct creations—Arabs, Jews—Prichard's argument about the influence of climate examined—Ethnological history of the Turks and Hungarians 336

 CHAPTER XII. CLASSIFICATION OF RACES.Primary varieties—Test for recognizing them; not always reliable—Effects of intermixture—Secondary varieties—Tertiary varieties—Amalgamation of races in large cities—Relative scale of beauty in various branches of the human family—Their inequality in muscular strength and powers of endurance 368

 NOTE TO THE PRECEDING CHAPTER.The position and treatment of woman among the various races of men a proof of their moral and intellectual diversity 384

 CHAPTER XIII. PERFECTIBILITY OF MAN.Imperfect notions of the capability of savage tribes—Parallel between our civilization and those that preceded it—Our modern political theories no novelty—The political parties of Rome—Peace societies—The art of printing a means, the results of which depend on its use—What constitutes a "living" civilization—Limits of the sphere of intellectual acquisitions 391

 CHAPTER XIV. MUTUAL RELATIONS OF DIFFERENT MODES OF INTELLECTUAL CULTURE.Necessary consequences of a supposed equality of all races—Uniform testimony of history to the contrary—Traces of extinct civilizations among barbarous tribes—Laws which govern the adoption of a state of civilization by conquered populations—Antagonism of different modes of culture; the Hellenic and Persian, European and Arab, etc. 414

 CHAPTER XV. MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE THREE GREAT VARIETIES.Impropriety of drawing general conclusions from individual cases—Recapitulatory sketch of the leading features of the Negro, the Yellow, and the White races—Superiority of the latter—Conclusion of volume the first 439

 APPENDIX. By J. C. Nott, M. D.A—Dr. Morton's later tables 461B—Species; varieties. Latest experiments upon the laws of hybridity473C—Biblical connections of the question of unity or plurality of species504

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