The Inequality of Human Races

by Arthur de Gobineau

THE INEQUALITY

OF HUMAN RACES

BY ARTHUR DE GOBINEAU

TRANSLATED BY ADRIAN COLLINS, M.A.

INTRODUCTION BY DR. OSCAR LEVY, EDITOR OF THE
AUTHORISED ENGLISH VERSION OF NIETZSCHE'S WORKS

WILLIAM HEINEMANN
LONDONMCMXV

CONTENTS

CHAP.		PAGE
	INTRODUCTION	vii
	FROM THE AUTHOR'S DEDICATION	xi
	AUTHOR'S PREFACE	xvii
I.	THE MORTAL DISEASE OF CIVILIZATIONS AND SOCIETIES PROCEEDS FROM GENERAL CAUSES COMMON TO THEM ALL	1
II.	FANATICISM, LUXURY, CORRUPTION OF MORALS, AND IRRELIGION DO NOT NECESSARILY LEAD TO THE FALL OF SOCIETIES	7
III.	THE RELATIVE MERIT OF GOVERNMENTS HAS NO INFLUENCE ON THE LENGTH OF A NATION'S LIFE	19
IV.	THE MEANING OF THE WORD "DEGENERATION"; THE MIXTURE OF RACIAL ELEMENTS; HOW SOCIETIES ARE FORMED AND BROKEN UP	23
V.	RACIAL INEQUALITY IS NOT THE RESULT OF INSTITUTIONS	36
VI.	NATIONS, WHETHER PROGRESSING OR STAGNATING ARE INDEPENDENT OF THE REGIONS IN WHICH THEY LIVE	54
VII.	CHRISTIANITY NEITHER CREATES NOR CHANGES THE CAPACITY FOR CIVILIZATION	63
VIII.	DEFINITION OF THE WORD "CIVILIZATION"; SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT HAS A TWO-FOLD ORIGIN	77
IX.	DEFINITION OF THE WORD "CIVILIZATION" (continued); DIFFERENT CHARACTERISTICS OF CIVILIZED SOCIETIES; OUR CIVILIZATION IS NOT SUPERIOR TO THOSE WHICH HAVE GONE BEFORE	89
X.	SOME ANTHROPOLOGISTS REGARD MAN AS HAVING A MULTIPLE ORIGIN	106

CHAP.		PAGE
XI.	RACIAL DIFFERENCES ARE PERMANENT	117
XII.	HOW THE RACES WERE PHYSIOLOGICALLY SEPARATED, AND THE DIFFERENT VARIETIES FORMED BY THEIR INTER-MIXTURE. THEY ARE UNEQUAL IN STRENGTH AND BEAUTY	141
XIII	THE HUMAN RACES ARE INTELLECTUALLY UNEQUAL ; MANKIND IS NOT CAPABLE OF INFINITE PROGRESS	154
XIV.	PROOF OF THE INTELLECTUAL INEQUALITY OF RACES {continued). DIFFERENT CIVILIZATIONS ARE MUTUALLY REPULSIVE; HYBRID RACES HAVE EQUALLY HYBRID CIVILIZATIONS	168
XV.	THE DIFFERENT LANGUAGES ARE UNEQUAL, AND CORRESPOND PERFECTLY IN RELATIVE MERIT TO THE RACES THAT USE THEM	182
XVI.	RECAPITULATION ; THE RESPECTIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE THREE GREAT RACES ; THE SUPERIORITY OF THE WHITE TYPE, AND, WITHIN THIS TYPE, OF THE ARYAN FAMILY	205