Intelligence and philosophy have justified extermination as well as equality
Evidence
When someone else strives and strains to prove to me that black men are as intelligent as white men, I say that intelligence has never saved anyone; and that is true, for, if philosophy and intelligence are invoked to proclaim the equality of men, they have also been employed to justify the extermination of men. — Frantz Fanon, Constance Farrington, Black skin, white masks, 107
Categorization
- SEED: A sharp aphorism for an essay on the limits of assimilationist proof-of-worth arguments.
- XREF: connects to: Refusing equal value of lives yields state terrorism and philosopher-executioners; Philosophy and intelligence justify both egalitarian and exterminationist positions; Philosophers both reflect their historical milieu and shape future institutions — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 32 (+5 more)
Related
- Philosophy and intelligence justify both egalitarian and exterminationist positions (similarity 0.95)
- Black men compulsively seek to prove intellectual equality to white men (similarity 0.80)
- White superiority belief coexists with black men’s compulsion to prove their intellect (similarity 0.79)
Broader Connections
- Philosophers both reflect their historical milieu and shape future institutions
#expands(0.60) — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 32 - Ideological crusades cannot decisively win because ideas resist extermination
#contradicts(0.55) — Garrett Mattingly, The Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 896 - Compulsory acceptance of foundational state myths stunts human intelligence and philosophy.
#qualifies(0.45) — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 535