Eighteenth-century humanists exaggerated Jewish foreignness to prove universal humanity
Evidence
By freeing individuality from every restriction and special determination, and hence by making perpetually identical individuality—man in the abstract—the ultimate substance of personality, this era simultaneously elevated that abstraction to the ultimate value of personality. A man, says Kant, is certainly profane, but the mankind in him is sacred. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 532 (
#expands, via linked claim)
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: The eighteenth century made abstract universal humanity sacred over particular persons — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 532; Social discrimination invented the abstracted figure of the Jew as a universal type
Related
- The eighteenth century made abstract universal humanity sacred over particular persons (similarity 0.88)
- Social discrimination invented the abstracted figure of the Jew as a universal type (similarity 0.81)
- The eighteenth century equated individuality with freedom and assumed natural human equality (similarity 0.80)
Broader Connections
- Social discrimination invented the abstracted figure of the Jew as a universal type
#expands(0.85) - The eighteenth century made abstract universal humanity sacred over particular persons
#expands(0.80) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 532