Final answer:
Ruth Benedict did not directly criticize Arthur de Gobineau's works, but her cultural anthropology challenged racial theories similar to those Gobineau proposed. Benedict's work supports cultural relativism, contrasting Gobineau's racial determinism.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question asks about Ruth Benedict's criticism of Arthur de Gobineau's works. However, there appears to be a misunderstanding because there is no direct record of Ruth Benedict specifically criticizing Gobineau, as her main work was in cultural anthropology and she lived after Gobineau's time. Instead, both scholars had contrasting views on race and culture. Gobineau is known for his work on racial theory, particularly the book 'Essai sur l'inégalité des races humaines' (An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races), which claimed that the fate of civilizations is determined by racial composition and supported the idea of white supremacy. On the other hand, Benedict is known for challenging racist and ethnocentric approaches in her book 'Patterns of Culture', where she argues that cultures should not be evaluated in comparison to each other but understood based on their own histories and contexts.
Given the differences in their scholarly pursuits and time periods, Benedict's work serves as a broader critique of racial theories such as those proposed by Gobineau.