--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the post-enlightenment Europe of the…" description: "\"In the post-enlightenment Europe of the 19th century the highest authority was no longer the Church. Instead it was science. Thus was born racial anti-..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c49/jonathan-sacks-2788_19th-century_in-the-post-enlightenment-europe-of-the_1049916.jpg" --- # In the post-enlightenment Europe of the 19th century the… ![“In the post-enlightenment Europe of the 19th century the highest authority was no longer the Church. Instead it was science. Thus was born racial anti-Semitism, based on two disciplines regarded as science in their day - the 'scientific study of race' and the Social Darwinism of Herbert Spencer…” quote by Jonathan Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c49/jonathan-sacks-2788_19th-century_in-the-post-enlightenment-europe-of-the_1049916.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c49/jonathan-sacks-2788_19th-century_in-the-post-enlightenment-europe-of-the_1049916.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c49/jonathan-sacks-2788_19th-century_in-the-post-enlightenment-europe-of-the_1049916.jpg) > “In the post-enlightenment Europe of the 19th century the highest authority was no longer the Church. Instead it was science. Thus was born racial anti-Semitism, based on two disciplines regarded as science in their day - the 'scientific study of race' and the Social Darwinism of Herbert Spencer and Ernst Haeckel.” [Jonathan Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-sacks/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Science replaced religious authority, leading to pseudo‑scientific racism and Social Darwinism that justified anti‑Jewish prejudice. **In simple terms:** Science became the new authority, spawning racist theories. Key Takeaway Recognize how authority shifts can enable harmful ideologies. Themes authority science racism history Mood critical reflective Type historical analytical When to use this quote - academic discourse - policy making - education - media analysis Key Concepts Social Darwinism scientific racism intellectual authority Questions to Reflect On - How does authority influence moral judgments? - Can science be truly neutral? A Different Perspective These ideas were later discredited, yet their legacy persists in modern biases. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anti semitism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anti-semitism/) [Authority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authority/) [Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church/) [Darwinism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darwinism/) [Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/day/) [Discipline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discipline/) [Enlightenment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enlightenment/) [Europe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/europe/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/) [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Social darwinism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-darwinism/) ## Related quotes > [Herbert Spencer is little read now. Philosophers do not regard him as a major thinker. Social Darwinism has long been in disrepute.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-singer/herbert-spencer-is-little-read-now-philosophers-do-not-regard-him-as/) [Peter Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-singer/) > [Anti-Semitism is not based on strictly religious grounds and is not directed against the Jewish faith as such. However, all German Christians resent and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-hanfstaengl/anti-semitism-is-not-based-on-strictly-religious-grounds-and-is-not/) [Ernst Hanfstaengl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-hanfstaengl/) > [“Darwinism met with such overwhelming success because it provided, on the basis of inheritance, the ideological weapons for race and well as class rule…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/darwinism-met-with-such-overwhelming-success-because-it-provided-on/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [The predominant idea behind globalization, in its most virulent form, is an unpleasant kind of social Darwinism - that the world is for winners…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-roddick/the-predominant-idea-behind-globalization-in-its-most-virulent-form/) [Anita Roddick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-roddick/) > [“In the physical constitution of an organized being, that is, a being adapted suitably to the purposes of life, we assume it as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/in-the-physical-constitution-of-an-organized-being-that-is-a-being/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Obviously there have been some very poor uses of evolution in the 20th century. Social Darwinism for instance and we point out in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-graffin/obviously-there-have-been-some-very-poor-uses-of-evolution-in-the/) [Greg Graffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-graffin/) > [“Of all the problems which will have to be faced in the future, in my opinion, the most difficult will be those concerning the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-darwin/of-all-the-problems-which-will-have-to-be-faced-in-the-future-in-my/) Leonard Darwin > [“My firm conviction is that if wide-spread Eugenic reforms are not adopted during the next hundred years or so, our Western Civilization is inevitably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-darwin/my-firm-conviction-is-that-if-wide-spread-eugenic-reforms-are-not/) Leonard Darwin > [Nothing seemed to offer more striking proof to the late Victorian mind of the infernal truth of social Darwinism than the supposed demise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-flanagan/nothing-seemed-to-offer-more-striking-proof-to-the-late-victorian/) [Richard Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-flanagan/) > [But it is one of these sort of mythologies about America and its intellectual history, that the right embraced this thing called social Darwinism,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-goldberg/but-it-is-one-of-these-sort-of-mythologies-about-america-and-its/) [Jonah Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-goldberg/) > [“Dedicated to the memory of MY FATHER. For if I had not believed that he would have wished me to give such help as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-darwin/dedicated-to-the-memory-of-my-father-for-if-i-had-not-believed-that/) Leonard Darwin > [There was no intellectual movement in American history called social Darwinism. The people who were supposedly the leaders of the social Darwinist movement never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-goldberg/there-was-no-intellectual-movement-in-american-history-called-social/) [Jonah Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-goldberg/) > [Since the universe is stupid, it's no wonder that social Darwinism tends to support, promote and finance the evolution of fools.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-brown/since-the-universe-is-stupid-it-s-no-wonder-that-social-darwinism/) [William C. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-brown/) > [... no compelling data to support its anachronistic social Darwinism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/no-compelling-data-to-support-its-anachronistic-social-darwinism/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [Im not advocating social Darwinism, I am witnessing actual Darwinism. If you are in a camp with a bunch of campers, and a bear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ruppert/im-not-advocating-social-darwinism-i-am-witnessing-actual-darwinism/) [Michael Ruppert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ruppert/) ## More by Jonathan Sacks > [We from every religion feel comfortable in Britain because there is a host. The Church of England is a good host, it has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-sacks/we-from-every-religion-feel-comfortable-in-britain-because-there-is-a/) [Jonathan Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-sacks/) > [Food prices are often kept artificially high. The result is that the Millennium Development Goals set out by the United Nations at the start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-sacks/food-prices-are-often-kept-artificially-high-the-result-is-that-the/) [Jonathan Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-sacks/) > [In her religious role, the Queen is head of the Church of England, but in her civic role she cares for all her subjects,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-sacks/in-her-religious-role-the-queen-is-head-of-the-church-of-england-but/) [Jonathan Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-sacks/) > [The market economy is deeply congruent with the values set out in the Hebrew Bible. 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The question to which they are an answer is not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-sacks/jews-read-the-books-of-moses-not-just-as-history-but-as-divine/) [Jonathan Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-sacks/) > [What I find fascinating about Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights we celebrate at this time of the year, is the way its story…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-sacks/what-i-find-fascinating-about-hanukkah-the-jewish-festival-of-lights/) [Jonathan Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-sacks/) > [Find people not to envy but to admire. Do not the profitable but the admirable deed. Live by ideals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-sacks/find-people-not-to-envy-but-to-admire-do-not-the-profitable-but-the/) [Jonathan Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-sacks/) > [The message of Passover remains as powerful as ever. Freedom is won not on the battlefield but in the classroom and the home. Teach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-sacks/the-message-of-passover-remains-as-powerful-as-ever-freedom-is-won/) [Jonathan Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-sacks/) > [Which European leader today would not relish the wonder-working powers of a Moses? Budget deficit? Unpopular cuts? How about just a little miracle, an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-sacks/which-european-leader-today-would-not-relish-the-wonder-working/) [Jonathan Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-sacks/) > [The twenty-first century is, and will remain, the Age of Insecurity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-sacks/the-twenty-first-century-is-and-will-remain-the-age-of-insecurity/) [Jonathan Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-sacks/) [Explore all 150 Jonathan Sacks quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-sacks/) ## More 19th century quotes > [Though my grandmother had picked up modern ideas in America, she still had some conflicting 19th-century Irish notions. 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The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/washington-was-no-politician-as-we-understand-the-word-replied/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [Then years back, when I moved to California, I happened to see a book about fashions of 19th-century Victorian England, only four pages of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/then-years-back-when-i-moved-to-california-i-happened-to-see-a-book/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Like the railroads that brought us together in the 19th century, these trails will bring us together in the 20th and 21st centuries. (at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/like-the-railroads-that-brought-us-together-in-the-19th-century-these/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [By tracing the careers of the four members of the Philosophical Breakfast Club, Laura Snyder has found a wonderful way not just to tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-standage/by-tracing-the-careers-of-the-four-members-of-the-philosophical/) [Tom Standage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-standage/) > [If you look back on the history of the 20th century, the 19th century or even to the ancien régime of the 18th, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/if-you-look-back-on-the-history-of-the-20th-century-the-19th-century/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [If you look at that incredible burst of fantastic characters that emerged in the late 19th century/early 20th century, you can see so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/if-you-look-at-that-incredible-burst-of-fantastic-characters-that/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [ . . . Luddites were those frenzied traditionalists of the early 19th century who toured \[England\] wrecking new weaving machines on the theory that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-michener/luddites-were-those-frenzied-traditionalists-of-the-early-19th/) [James A. 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I don't think that today's women see motherhood as a source…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clare-wright/an-ethic-of-maternalism-was-central-to-the-utopianism-of-19th-century/) Clare Wright Browse all 383 19th century quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In the post-enlightenment Europe of the 19th century the highest authority was no longer the Church. Instead it was science. 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