“The decline of religious authority implied the liberation of man's conscience, but it also implied something else. Religious ethics had to be speedily replaced by secular, social morality. With the rejection of the Church, and of transcendental justice, the State remained the sole source and sanction of morality. This was a matter of great importance at a time when politics were considered indistinguishable from ethics. The decline of the [associated] idea of status consequent on the rise of individualism spelt the doom of privilege, but also contained totalitarian potentialities.”