On scientific racism purported by Carl Linnaeus and varying other individuals and why it doesnt make sense While racialist ideas had been circulated for countless years by philosophers both natural and folk, what is more commonly known as scientific racism or raciology didnt come about until the 18th century and only gained more widespread popularity in the mid-19th century. Early attempts at scientific definitions of race drew largely on Carl Linnaeus Systema Naturae (1735), in which he posited five races: the Europeanus, the Africanus, the Americanus, the Asiaticus, and the Monstrosus (that last one was actually made up of mythical creatures).[3] This is why the concept of race is merely silly... it posits that somehow theres a master somewhere or some kind of hierarchy... its assumption is based on some creationism theology... thus with the concept of race being peddled there will be people who automatically assume authority pertaining to the chain link of creation (conceptualized by Augustine of Hippo) suggesting that all life had some sort of hierarchy... (thus race peddled by the likes of Carl Linnaeus and automatically assuming some races were Better or higher up on the hierarchy comes across as childish pseudo-science with poor attempts at taxonomy...) The idea of a Great Chain of Being, with a linear model of creation, also influenced racialist ideologies. One of scientific racisms greatest hits in the 19th century was Joseph Arthur, Comte de Gobineaus An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races (1853), which was basically a work of racial historical determinism claiming that the Aryans were the supreme race and miscegenation led to civilizational decline.[4] Gobineaus writings greatly inspired the British-Germanophile Houston Stewart Chamberlain, who wrote The Foundations of the 19th Century (1899), a massive anti-Semitic tome ascribing Europes greatness to the Aryans (or Teutons).[5] This would later be heavily recycled by the Nazis. Incidentally, Chamberlain also rejected evolution and promoted the pseudo-astronomy of Hans Hörbiger. Another influence on the Nazis was Ernst Haeckel, who used Lamarckian views of evolution to defend racialism and nationalism.[6] rationalwiki.org/wiki/Racialism rationalwiki.org/wiki/Great_Chain_of_Being
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 04:24:37 +0000
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