5.2 KiB
| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arthur Keith | 3/3 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Keith | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T17:02:56.552176+00:00 | kb-cron |
"Why is it that the feelings which accompany the practice of every kind of reprisal or of revenge are painful? Indeed, all the feelings which enter into the practice of the code of enmity are unpleasant and abiding. The explanation I offer is that resentment is unpleasant to make sure that it will be put into execution, so giving relief by gratification. —Sir Arthur Keith, A New Theory of Human Evolution, (London: Watts & Co., 1948), 82. "I have sought to prove ... that the code of enmity is a necessary part of the machinery of evolution. He who feels generous towards his enemy, and more especially if he feels forgiveness towards him, has in reality abandoned the code of enmity and so has given up his place in the turmoil of evolutionary competition. Hence the benign feeling of perfect peace that descends on him." —Sir Arthur Keith, A New Theory of Human Evolution, (London: Watts & Co., 1948), 82. "Another mark of race possessed by the Jews must be mentioned. Their conduct is regulated by a 'dual code'; their conduct towards their fellows is based on one code (amity), and that towards all who are outside their circle on another (enmity). The use of the dual code, as we have seen, is a mark of an evolving race. My deliberate opinion is that racial characters are more strongly developed in the Jews than in any other race." —Sir Arthur Keith, A New Theory of Human Evolution, (London: Watts & Co., 1948), 390. "The German Führer(Adolf Hitler), as I have consistently maintained, is an evolutionist; he has consciously sought to make the practice of Germany conform to the theory of evolution. He has failed, not because the theory of evolution is false, but because he has made three fatal blunders in its application. The first was in forcing the pace of evolution among his own people; he raised their warlike passions to such a heat that the only relief possible was that of aggressive war. His second mistake lay in his misconception of the evolutionary value of power. All that a sane evolutionist demands of power is that it should be sufficient to guarantee the security of a nation; more than that is an evolutionary abuse of power. When Hitler set out to conquer Europe, he had entered on that course which brought about the evolutionary destruction of Genghis Khan and his Mongol hordes (see Chapter 34). His third and greatest mistake was his failure to realize that such a monopoly of power meant insecurity for Britain, Russia, and America. His three great antagonists, although they do not preach the doctrine of evolution, are very consistent exponents of its tenets."
—Sir Arthur Keith, Essays on Human Evolution, (London: Watts & Co., 1946), 210 (cf. Evolution and Ethics, (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1947), 229.)
=== Spurious quotation ===
Evolution is unproved and unprovable. We believe it because the only alternative is special creation, and that is unthinkable. This supposed quote is used by creationists in an attempt to demonstrate that Sir Arthur Keith simply dismisses evolutionist viewpoints outright due to a presumed anti-atheistic bias. However, in attempting to research this statement, one finds that it usually appears without primary source documentation. In those instances where seemingly original documentation is provided, it is stated to be a foreword for a centennial edition or "100th edition" of Origin of Species. However, several facts show that the attribution of these words to Arthur Keith is erroneous. Keith died in 1955, some four years before the 100th anniversary of Darwin's work, so that he was clearly not available to write an introduction for the centennial edition (this was actually done by William Robin Thompson who did in fact hold anti-Darwinian views as can be seen from his foreword published the year after Keith died). Furthermore, while Keith did write an introduction to earlier printings of Origin of Species, in use from 1928 to 1958, the words given above do not appear in that introduction. Finally, the last "edition" of Origin of Species is the sixth edition published 1879. It is for this reason that all later publications of Origin of Species are actually reprints of this or earlier editions so that there is simply no "100th edition" of Darwin's work. The quote appears to stem from a 1947 article about—not by—Arthur Keith, in the magazine The Nineteenth Century, which was then misattributed.
== References ==
== External links ==
Works by or about Arthur Keith at Wikisource Works by Arthur Keith at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Arthur Keith at the Internet Archive Journal of Anatomy Archived 14 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine – Archive Sir Arthur Keith Biography – Who Named It? Evolution and Ethics (full text at designeduniverse.com) A New Theory Of Human Evolution – Full text Web pages and timeline about the Piltdown forgery hosted by the British Geological Survey
== Literature == Redman, Samuel J. Bone Rooms: From Scientific Racism to Human Prehistory in Museums. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press) 2016.