Amount Quote by Anonymous
“An enormous amount of modern ingenuity is expended on finding defences for the indefensible conduct of the powerful. As I have said above, these defences generally exhibit themselves most emphatically in the form of appeals to physical science. And of all the forms in which science, or pseudo-science, has come to the rescue of the rich and stupid, there is none so singular as the singular invention of the theory of races.”
About This Quote
Source Essay: Unknown, modern critique of power and pseudo‑science
The powerful create elaborate justifications for immoral actions, often cloaked in scientific language, especially racial theory.
In simple terms: Powerful people hide wrongdoing behind false science.
Key Takeaway
Question and expose false justifications.
Themes
power
ethics
science
racism
politics
Mood
critical
skeptical
Type
analytical
philosophical
When to use this quote
- political analysis
- academic debate
- media criticism
Key Concepts
pseudo‑science
racial theory
social critique
Questions to Reflect On
- What evidence reveals the true motives behind these defenses?
- How does scientific rhetoric mask moral failure?
A Different Perspective
Such defenses can be persuasive and hard to dismantle.
![“[T]he true natural sciences lock together in theory and evidence to form the ineradicable technical base of modern civilization. The pseudosciences satisfy personal psychological needs... but lack the ideas or the means to contribute to the technical base.” quote by E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/db8/e-o-wilson-1348_civilization_t-he-true-natural-sciences-lock-together_2419733.jpg)
![“Science and mathematics [are] much more compelling and exciting than the doctrines of pseudoscience, whose practitioners were condemned as early as the fifth century B.C. by the Ionian philosopher Heraclitus as 'night walkers, magicians, priests of Bacchus, priestesses of the wine-vat…” quote by Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/3e2/carl-sagan-160_bacchus_science-and-mathematics-are-much-more-co_2332206.jpg)
