Monday, February 1, 2016

In Prichard's most famous work, The Natural History of Man, he expresses his monogenist views. Prichard was a man of science but also was heavily influenced by religion which is prominent in his work. Although on multiple accounts he insists that his work was not influenced by religion and that his work is based off of scientific fact, there are many statements that prove this wrong. On page III of the preface, he makes a statement that reflects that religion will not influence his work and that mankind still comes from one race. His opinions and "facts" he presents throughout the rest of the essay prove contrary to this.
In Knox'a most famous work, The Races of Men, his views are consistent with polygenist opinions. Knox fiercely discredits the Bible with his work and during his time, this is a very big deal. Not only did his work contradict the Bible, he also did not support colonialism. Knox had based his work off of internal structure such as the shape of the skull, whereas Prichard had focused mostly on external forces shaping the human race. On page 9 of the introduction in his work, he claims that men are from a multitude of races contradicting Prichards work.

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