--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Now that science has helped us to…" description: "\"Now that science has helped us to overcome the awe of the unknown in nature, we are the slaves of social pressures of our own making. When called upon ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/155/max-horkheimer-16619_authority_now-that-science-has-helped-us-to-overco_1725141.jpg" --- # Now that science has helped us to overcome the awe of the… ![“Now that science has helped us to overcome the awe of the unknown in nature, we are the slaves of social pressures of our own making. When called upon to act independently, we cry for patterns, systems, and authorities. If by enlightenment and intellectual progress we mean the freeing of man from…” quote by Max Horkheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/155/max-horkheimer-16619_authority_now-that-science-has-helped-us-to-overco_1725141.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/155/max-horkheimer-16619_authority_now-that-science-has-helped-us-to-overco_1725141.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/155/max-horkheimer-16619_authority_now-that-science-has-helped-us-to-overco_1725141.jpg) > “Now that science has helped us to overcome the awe of the unknown in nature, we are the slaves of social pressures of our own making. When called upon to act independently, we cry for patterns, systems, and authorities. If by enlightenment and intellectual progress we mean the freeing of man from superstitious belief in evil forces, in demons and fairies, in blind fate--in short, the emancipation from fear--then denunciation of what is currently called reason is the greatest service reason can render.” [Max Horkheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-horkheimer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Modern enlightenment can trap us in self‑imposed social pressures, demanding patterns and authority, which can hinder true freedom from fear. **In simple terms:** Freedom requires questioning imposed patterns. Key Takeaway Critique societal pressures to achieve true emancipation. Themes freedom enlightenment social pressure authority fear reason Mood critical thought‑provoking analytical Type philosophical critical inspirational When to use this quote - Academic discourse - policy analysis - personal reflection - media consumption Key Concepts Critical theory philosophy social critique Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize self‑imposed constraints? - What role should authority play in personal freedom? A Different Perspective Reason itself can become dogmatic, limiting independent thought. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Authority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authority/) [Awe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awe/) [Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) [Blind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blind/) [Buddhism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buddhism/) [Cry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cry/) [Demon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demon/) [Emancipation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emancipation/) [Enlightenment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enlightenment/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Fairy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fairy/) [Fate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fate/) [Intellectual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Overcoming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/overcoming/) [Patterns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patterns/) [Pressure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pressure/) [Progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Superstitious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/superstitious/) ## Related quotes > [This is something I consider Enlightenment to be - and that is to give intellectual or spiritual understanding and to be free of ignorance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-seymour/this-is-something-i-consider-enlightenment-to-be-and-that-is-to-give/) [Jane Seymour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-seymour/) > [“Seeing him brought in, has, I think, saved me from losing my mind; for that I do not thank him-sanity, after all is only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/seeing-him-brought-in-has-i-think-saved-me-from-losing-my-mind-for/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [“In the eighteenth century, the Scottish Enlightenment focused attention on Glasgow and Edinburgh as centres of intellectual activity. The Scottish Enlightenment was an intellectual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-carter/in-the-eighteenth-century-the-scottish-enlightenment-focused/) [Ronald Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-carter/) > [Faith is stronger than so-called reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/faith-is-stronger-than-so-called-reason/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [The governments alone are responsible for the spread of the superstitious awe with which the common man looks upon every bit of paper upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/the-governments-alone-are-responsible-for-the-spread-of-the/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [Yet, when these facts are seen side by side with other facts in the case, it is difficult not to become lost in superstitious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-ambler/yet-when-these-facts-are-seen-side-by-side-with-other-facts-in-the/) [Eric Ambler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-ambler/) > [Abstraction allows man to see with his mind what he cannot physically see with his eyes... Abstract art enables the artist to perceive beyond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arshile-gorky/abstraction-allows-man-to-see-with-his-mind-what-he-cannot-physically/) [Arshile Gorky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arshile-gorky/) > [“Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/bringing-the-gifts-that-my-ancestors-gave-i-am-the-dream-and-the-hope/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Wherever capitalism appears, in pursuit of its mission of exploitation, there will Socialism, fertilized by misery, watered by tears, and vitalized by agitation be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-v-debs/wherever-capitalism-appears-in-pursuit-of-its-mission-of-exploitation/) [Eugene V. Debs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-v-debs/) > [Before and after emancipation, the Negro, in self-defense, was propelled toward the white employer. The endowments of wealthy white men have developed great institutions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois/before-and-after-emancipation-the-negro-in-self-defense-was-propelled/) [W. E. B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois/) > [In emancipation from the fears that beset the slave of circumstance he will experience a profound joy, and through all the vicissitudes of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/in-emancipation-from-the-fears-that-beset-the-slave-of-circumstance/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [And with iPods and iPads, and Xboxes and PlayStations - none of which I know how to work - information becomes a distraction, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/and-with-ipods-and-ipads-and-xboxes-and-playstations-none-of-which-i/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [The history of woman is the history of the continued and universal oppression of one sex by the other. The emancipation of woman is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-celeste-claflin/the-history-of-woman-is-the-history-of-the-continued-and-universal/) [Tennessee Celeste Claflin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-celeste-claflin/) > [The strongest reason for giving woman all the opportunities of higher education, for the full development of her faculties, forces of mind and body;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-cady-stanton/the-strongest-reason-for-giving-woman-all-the-opportunities-of-higher/) [Elizabeth Cady Stanton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-cady-stanton/) > [Throughout the last century there were multiple attempts at giving Afghan women more autonomy, to change marriage laws, to abolish the practice of bride…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/throughout-the-last-century-there-were-multiple-attempts-at-giving/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) ## More by Max Horkheimer > [Philosophy is overwhelmingly complicated, its procedure depressingly slow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-horkheimer/philosophy-is-overwhelmingly-complicated-its-procedure-depressingly/) [Max Horkheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-horkheimer/) > [The inversion of external compulsion into the compulsion of conscience ... produces the machine-like assiduity and pliable allegiance required by the new rationality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-horkheimer/the-inversion-of-external-compulsion-into-the-compulsion-of/) [Max Horkheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-horkheimer/) > [The endeavor of scientific research to see events in their more general connection in order to determine their laws, is a legitimate and useful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-horkheimer/the-endeavor-of-scientific-research-to-see-events-in-their-more/) [Max Horkheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-horkheimer/) > [Pragmatism ... reflects with almost disarming candor the spirit of the prevailing business culture, the very same attitude of 'being practical' as counter to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-horkheimer/pragmatism-reflects-with-almost-disarming-candor-the-spirit-of-the/) [Max Horkheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-horkheimer/) > [At present, when the prevailing forms of society have become hindrances to the free expression of human powers, it is precisely the abstract branches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-horkheimer/at-present-when-the-prevailing-forms-of-society-have-become/) [Max Horkheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-horkheimer/) > [The quality of the human that precludes identifying the individual with the class is 'metaphysical' and has no place in empiricist epistemology. The pigeon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-horkheimer/the-quality-of-the-human-that-precludes-identifying-the-individual/) [Max Horkheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-horkheimer/) > [Whoever is not prepared to talk about capitalism should also remain silent about fascism,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-horkheimer/whoever-is-not-prepared-to-talk-about-capitalism-should-also-remain/) [Max Horkheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-horkheimer/) > [Reason as an organ for perceiving the true nature of reality and determining the guiding principles of our lives has come to be regarded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-horkheimer/reason-as-an-organ-for-perceiving-the-true-nature-of-reality-and/) [Max Horkheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-horkheimer/) > [Subjective reason ... is inclined to abandon the fight with religion by setting up two different brackets, one for science and philosophy, and one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-horkheimer/subjective-reason-is-inclined-to-abandon-the-fight-with-religion-by/) [Max Horkheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-horkheimer/) > [In the face of the idea that truth might afford the opposite of satisfaction and turn out to be completely shocking to humanity at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-horkheimer/in-the-face-of-the-idea-that-truth-might-afford-the-opposite-of/) [Max Horkheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-horkheimer/) > [Although the formulations of science now offer the most advanced knowledge of nature, men continue to use obsolete forms of thought long discarded by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-horkheimer/although-the-formulations-of-science-now-offer-the-most-advanced/) [Max Horkheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-horkheimer/) > [Once the philosophical foundation of democracy has collapsed, the statement that dictatorship is bad is rationally valid only for those who are not its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-horkheimer/once-the-philosophical-foundation-of-democracy-has-collapsed-the/) [Max Horkheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-horkheimer/) > [Plato and his objectivistic successors ... preserved the awareness of differences that pragmatism has been invented to deny the difference between thinking in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-horkheimer/plato-and-his-objectivistic-successors-preserved-the-awareness-of/) [Max Horkheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-horkheimer/) > [Reason has never really directed social reality, but now reason has been so thoroughly purged of any specific trend or preference that it has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-horkheimer/reason-has-never-really-directed-social-reality-but-now-reason-has/) [Max Horkheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-horkheimer/) > [The disparagement of empirical evidence in favor of a metaphysical world of illusion has its origin in the conflicy between the emancipated individual of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-horkheimer/the-disparagement-of-empirical-evidence-in-favor-of-a-metaphysical/) [Max Horkheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-horkheimer/) [Explore all 38 Max Horkheimer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-horkheimer/) ## More Authority quotes > [I don't believe in competitions between artists. This is insane. Who has the authority to say someone is better?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/i-don-t-believe-in-competitions-between-artists-this-is-insane-who/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [Islam never differentiates between men and women as regards political rights and puts them on an equal footing. However, even if a woman is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusuf-al-qaradawi/islam-never-differentiates-between-men-and-women-as-regards-political/) [Yusuf al-Qaradawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusuf-al-qaradawi/) > [I think people need to be comfortable questioning the authority of a doctor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susannah-cahalan/i-think-people-need-to-be-comfortable-questioning-the-authority-of-a/) [Susannah Cahalan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susannah-cahalan/) > [At a distance, we cannot conceive of the authority of a despot who knows all his subjects on sight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/at-a-distance-we-cannot-conceive-of-the-authority-of-a-despot-who/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [Throughout human history, as our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are, or where we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/throughout-human-history-as-our-species-has-faced-the-frightening/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [“I'm of the age and immaturity level that I cannot give you my respect solely because you are older or ranked higher on an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-goros/i-m-of-the-age-and-immaturity-level-that-i-cannot-give-you-my-respect/) [Erica Goros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-goros/) > [In the end theologians are jealous of science, for they are aware that it has greater authority than do their own ways of finding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-a-coyne/in-the-end-theologians-are-jealous-of-science-for-they-are-aware-that/) [Jerry A. Coyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-a-coyne/) > [Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/every-wife-ought-to-answer-for-her-man-if-the-husband-be-engaged-in-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Miracles are like candles lit up until the sun rises, and then blown out. Therefore, I am amused when I hear sects and churches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/miracles-are-like-candles-lit-up-until-the-sun-rises-and-then-blown/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [The execution was set for the 29th of March, at nine in the morning. This delay was due to a desire on the part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/the-execution-was-set-for-the-29th-of-march-at-nine-in-the-morning/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [I started with the belief that every person who came to the laboratory was free to accept or to reject the dictates of authority.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-milgram/i-started-with-the-belief-that-every-person-who-came-to-the/) [Stanley Milgram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-milgram/) > [The rationale which accompanies that imposition of male authority euphemistically referred to as 'the battle of the sexes' bears a certain resemblance to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-millett/the-rationale-which-accompanies-that-imposition-of-male-authority/) [Kate Millett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-millett/) > [“We are at the mercy of whoever wields authority over the things we either desire or detest. If you would be free, then, do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/we-are-at-the-mercy-of-whoever-wields-authority-over-the-things-we/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [Sometimes it's easier for people who are in authority to be authoritarian, because people know where you stand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meryl-streep/sometimes-it-s-easier-for-people-who-are-in-authority-to-be/) [Meryl Streep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meryl-streep/) > [The victory of Hamas is not only based on the corruption of the Palestinian Authority. Hamas has a vision and a program, and this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ismail-haniyeh/the-victory-of-hamas-is-not-only-based-on-the-corruption-of-the/) [Ismail Haniyeh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ismail-haniyeh/) [Browse all 4,003 Authority quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authority/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Now that science has helped us to overcome the awe of the unknown in nature, we are the slaves of social pressures of our own making. When called upon to act independently, we cry for patterns, systems, and authorities. If by enlightenment and intellectual progress we mean the freeing of man from superstitious belief in evil forces, in demons and fairies, in blind fate--in short, the emancipation from fear--then denunciation of what is currently called reason is the greatest service reason can render.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Max Horkheimer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-horkheimer/now-that-science-has-helped-us-to-overcome-the-awe-of-the-unknown-in/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Authority" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-horkheimer/now-that-science-has-helped-us-to-overcome-the-awe-of-the-unknown-in/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/155/max-horkheimer-16619_authority_now-that-science-has-helped-us-to-overco_1725141.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/155/max-horkheimer-16619_authority_now-that-science-has-helped-us-to-overco_1725141.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/155/max-horkheimer-16619_authority_now-that-science-has-helped-us-to-overco_1725141.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Now that science has helped us to overcome the awe of the unknown in nature, we are the slaves of social…” — Max Horkheimer", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Max Horkheimer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-horkheimer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Now that science has helped us...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-horkheimer/now-that-science-has-helped-us-to-overcome-the-awe-of-the-unknown-in/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-horkheimer/now-that-science-has-helped-us-to-overcome-the-awe-of-the-unknown-in/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```