136 Chapter 6
We startwithJosephArthurde Gobineau(1816–1882).^24 A Frenchdiplomat,Gobineau
airedsomedisturbingassertions.Firsthe assertedthathe haduncoveredsolidevidence
thatracialcategoriesentailedparticularcongenitalcharactertraits.Followingthis,Gobi-
neauassertedthatsomeraceswerecongenitallymorepeacefulandtechnologicallyin-
clinedthanothers.Finally,Gobineauassertedthatblond-haired,blue-eyedNordicswere
the greatestethnicband.^25 His influencesincludeKant,Hegel,Fichte,utilitarianJeremy
Bentham,andthe socialistsWilliamGodwin(fathertoFrankensteinauthorandromanti-
cist MaryShelley)and CharlesFourier.^26 No shillfor capitalism,Gobineauexplicatedhis
hostilityto commerce.In a letterto his sister,he lamented,“... moneyis the criterionfor
judgingthe esteemdueto men.” Far worse,Francehadbecomea “kingdomof bank-
ers.... HowI despairof a societywhich... has no heartleft.” To sumup his opinion,
Gobineaushrieks,“MONEYHASKILLEDEVERYTHING”^27 —the capitalizationis his.
BesidesJews,GobineaudespisedAsians,whomhe thoughtof as too greedilycommer-
cialistas well.As GeorgeL. Mossewrites,Gobineaubelievedthe “yellowrace” has been
“takenup with‘a steadybut uncreativedrivetowardsmaterialprosperity.’”^28 Mosse
paraphrasesGobineau’s idea:“The yellowracewasdestinedto fulfillitselfthroughcom-
merceand trade.Thisracehad all thosecharacteristicswhichGobineaufasteneduponthe
bourgeoisie,whomhe blamedfor havingdestroyedthe trueFrance.... Clearlythe
yellowracepossessednoneof the virtuesthatcharacterizedtruenobility,andso was
analogousto the Frenchbourgeoisie.”^29
Gobineau’s mantlewasthentakenup by anotherman.Onewasbornin Englandand
university-educatedin Switzerlandbeforemarryinga Germanandsettlingdownin her
nativecountry.ThisGobineaudisciplewasHoustonStewartChamberlain(1855–1927).^30
To Gobineau’s schoolof thought,Chamberlainaddedthe pretenseof biologicalevidence
anda fixationon accusingJewsof beinggeneticallypredisposedtowardruthlessness.^31
As a foil to the Jews,Chamberlaincharacterizedthosewhowereblond-hairedand blue-
eyed—whomhe calledTeutons—as the ideal.
TheodoreRooseveltharboredsomemixedfeelingsaboutChamberlain’s racialisttheo-
ries.Thoughhe stronglycriticizedsomepointsof Chamberlain’s seminalworkof racial
ideology,The Foundationsof the NineteenthCentury, Rooseveltnonethelessheldthe man
himselfin highregard.“Fundamentally,” TR considers,“verymanyof Mr. Chamberlain’s
ideasare trueandnoble.... a manwhocan writesucha reallybeautifulandsolemn
appreciationof trueChristianity,of trueacceptanceof Christ’s teachingsand personality,
as Mr. Chamberlainhas done,... a manwhocan warnus as clearlyas he has warned
aboutsomeof the pressingdangerswhichthreatenour socialfabric”—nonwhites— “...
representsan influenceto be reckonedwithand seriouslyto be takeninto account.”^32
Amonghis philosophicinfluences,Chamberlaincountedthe Germanromanticistand
racialistRichardWagner,^33 a friendto Gobineau.^34 The lovefor Wagneris somethingthat
ChamberlainandNietzschehadin common.In fact,Chamberlain’s Germanwifewas
actuallyone of Wagner’s daughters.^35 In contrastto the Kant-hatingNietzsche,though,
Chamberlainbrandedhimselfa staunchally of Kant’s. Brianand RebeccaCopenhaver,a
marriedcoupleof philosophyprofessors,disclosethatChamberlainwas“a seriousstu-
dent” of Kant’s.^36
GeorgeL. MossedivulgesthatChamberlain’sFoundations“drewa semblanceof re-
spectability” fromthe “Kantianphilosophy—particularlyfor argumentsin favorof the
existenceof intrinsicvalues.ChamberlainheldthatKant... postulatedan essenceof
things,theDingan sich, whichwasoutsideempiricalcomprehension.Chamberlainused
Kantto the followingeffect:On the one hand,therewasa Germansciencewhichdeter-
mined,withthe utmostaccuracy,that whichexistedempirically;on the otherhand,there
wasa Germanicreligion,whichbestowedinfinitevistasuponthe Germansoul.In terms
of importance,the religiontookpriority,sinceit alonecouldfathomthe trueessenceof