Polygenism

Polygenism is a theory of human origins positing that the human races are of different lineages, either from a scientific or a religious basis. This is opposite to the idea of monogenism , which posits a single origin of humanity. Many oral traditions feature polygenesis in their creation stories . The difference between polygenesis and polygenism is this: polygenesis is a process of multiple origin, polygenism is the doctrine that such a process occurred. From the point of view of religion, polygenism is an uncommon Biblical interpretation . Until the mid-1800s it was largely considered heretical . It was first raised by Isaac La Peyrère , a French polymath seeking to reconcile the limited number of generations between Adam and Eve and modern day by positing " pre-Adamites ". It was not believed that the number of races could have developed within the commonly accepted Biblical timeframe. Voltaire brought the subject up in his Essay on the Manner and Spirit of Nations and on the Principal Occurrences in History in 1756 (which was an early work of comparative history), although he made no attempt to solve the problem. The races of the world according to many Biblical Polygenists Polygenism came into mainstream scientific and religious thought due to the work of Samuel George Morton and more prominently Louis Agassiz in the United States . The issue of race was polemical, and slave owners attempted to justify their treatment of slaves using claimed empirical science such as Morton's work. They argued that each race was a different species , and that black Africans were mentally inferior to Caucasians . Agassiz believed that each race was unique, but could still be classified as the same species. Contemporary geological discoveries described the earth as far older than strict interpretation of Genesis allows, and among some thinkers, polygenism was a way to reconcile the new discoveries with their faith. In the race debates of the 1860s and 1870s, Charles Darwin and some of his supporters argued for the monogenesis of the human species, seeing the common origin of all humans as essential for evolutionary theory . This is known as the single-origin hypothesis . Ernst Haeckel , the major publicizer of Darwin's ideas (or his interpretation of them) to the German-speaking world, attacked this view, arguing that human beings do not form a single species but a genus divided into nine separate species that have been evolving separately since before the development of speech. [1] Haeckel's view remained influential until well into the 20th century. Polygenism was heavily criticized in the 20th century Roman Catholic Church , and especially by Pope Pius XII in the encyclical Humani Generis , who felt that, although evolution was compatible with Catholicism, polygenism was seemingly incompatible with the doctrine of Original Sin . In the late 20th century, the work of the paleoanthropologist Carleton Coon was the closest to what can be perhaps considered a "modern" polygenism by positing that the individual races of the earth separately evolved into modern Homo sapiens . This hypothesis, called the candelabra theory, was not very popular when it was presented in the mid-1960s. It is often confused with the multiregional hypothesis , but these two theories differ significantly in that Coon's candelabra model involves no gene flow between populations (so truly independent evolutions for races of humans) while the multiregional hypothesis is based on the idea of massive amounts of gene flow between human populations. The multiregional hypothesis is not a true example of polygenism, though it is the closest thing to polygenism surviving as a currently somewhat respectable scentific theory.

Polygenism is a theory of human origins positing that the human races are of different origins ( polygenesis ). This is opposite to the idea of monogenism , which posits a single origin of humanity.

Polygenism is a theory of human origins which posits the view that the human races are of different origins ( polygenesis ). This view is opposite to the idea of monogenism , which posits a single origin of humanity. Modern scientific views no longer favor the polygenic model, with the monogenic "Out of Africa" theory and its variants being the most widely accepted models for human origins. Race and Racism: An Introduction .

Theory of human origins Not to be confused with Polygyny . Polygenism is a theory of human origins which posits the view that the human races are of different origins ( polygenesis ). This view is opposite to the idea of monogenism , which posits a single origin of humanity. Modern scientific views find little merit in any polygenic model due to an increased understanding of speciation in a human context, with the monogenic "Out of Africa" hypothesis and its variants being the most widely accepted models for human origins. Polygenism has historically been heavily used in service of white supremacist ideas and practices, denying a common origin between European and non-European peoples. It can be distinguished between Biblical polygenism, describing a Pre-Adamite or Co-Adamite origin of certain races in the context of the Genesis narrative of Adam and Eve , and scientific polygenism, attempting to find a taxonomic basis for ideas of racial science . Race and Racism: An Introduction . Why that matters today" .

Theory of plural human origins For other uses, see Polygenesis . Polygenism is a theory of human origins which posits the view that humans are of different origins ( polygenesis ). This view is opposite to the idea of monogenism , which posits a single origin of humanity. Modern scientific views find little merit in any polygenic model due to an increased understanding of speciation in a human context, with the monogenic "Out of Africa" hypothesis and its variants being the most widely accepted models for human origins. Polygenism has historically been heavily used in service of white supremacist ideas and practices, denying a common origin between European and non-European peoples. It can be distinguished between Biblical polygenism, describing a Pre-Adamite or Co-Adamite origin of certain races in the context of the Genesis narrative of Adam and Eve , and scientific polygenism, attempting to find a taxonomic basis for ideas of racial science . Race and Racism: An Introduction . Why that matters today" .