Philosophy Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Racism: Racism is the belief that one race is superior to another, and that this superiority justifies discrimination or prejudice. It is a social and political attitude that has caused immense harm throughout history. See also Discrimination, Prejudice, Society, Community, Politics, National Socialism, Fascism._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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Stephen Jay Gould on Racism - Dictionary of Arguments
I 170 Racism/science/history/Gould: in the second half of the 19th century, the theory of phylogeny being repeated by ontogenesis was the best guide for biologists to divide living beings into higher and lower forms. According to this theory, the children repeated in the growth earlier developmental stages: embryos have gill slits, like a fish, later a three-chambered heart like a reptile, and later the tail of a mammal. > Recapitulation Theory. One variant of this thinking is Louis Agassiz' "triple parallelism", unity of paleontology, comparative anatomy, and embryology. They referred to actual precursors of primitive organisms. (1) ((s) Gould, however, does not call Agassiz at any point racist. He, on the other hand, describes him as an opponent of racial discrimination.) In this context, the physician John Langdon-Down had (2) the idea of his misleading realization in 1866: some of the Caucasian idiots must represent a standstill in development. He also spoke of an "Ethiopian variant", "copies of white Negroes" or a "Malaysian variant". I 169 Gould: this is an interesting episode in the history of scientific racism. For Down, the terms "mongoloid" and "idiot" were purely scientific. According to him there were three levels: 1. idiot: an "idiot" could never master the spoken language. 2. Imbecile: an "imbecile" could speak but not write. 3. Debile: there is a considerable scientific discussion on the "debile" or "moron" (Greek: foolish).(3) >Evolution, >Explanation. 1. L. Agassiz (1862). Contributions to the natural history of United States. Vol. 4. Boston. 2. J. H. L. Langdon-Down, Observations on an ethnic classification of idiots. In: Clinical Lecture Reports, London Hospital. 3, 1866, S. 259–62.) 3. Langdon-Down ibid._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Gould I Stephen Jay Gould The Panda’s Thumb. More Reflections in Natural History, New York 1980 German Edition: Der Daumen des Panda Frankfurt 2009 Gould II Stephen Jay Gould Hen’s Teeth and Horse’s Toes. Further Reflections in Natural History, New York 1983 German Edition: Wie das Zebra zu seinen Streifen kommt Frankfurt 1991 Gould III Stephen Jay Gould Full House. The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin, New York 1996 German Edition: Illusion Fortschritt Frankfurt 2004 Gould IV Stephen Jay Gould The Flamingo’s Smile. Reflections in Natural History, New York 1985 German Edition: Das Lächeln des Flamingos Basel 1989 |
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Ed. Martin Schulz, access date 2024-04-27