Enlightenment now : the case for reason, science, humanism, and progress
Steven Pinker (Author)
The follow-up to Pinker's groundbreaking The Better Angels of Our Nature presents the big picture of human progress: people are living longer, healthier, freer, and happier lives, and while our problems are formidable, the solutions lie in the Enlightenment ideal of using reason and science. Far from being a naive hope, the Enlightenment, we now know, has worked. But more than ever, it needs a vigorous defense. The Enlightenment project swims against currents of human nature--tribalism, authoritarianism, demonization, magical thinking--which demagogues are all too willing to exploit. Many commentators, committed to political, religious, or romantic ideologies, fight a rearguard action against it. The result is a corrosive fatalism and a willingness to wreck the precious institutions of liberal democracy and global cooperation
xvii, 556 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm
9780143111382, 0143111388
1039339222
I. Enlightenment :
Dare to understand!
Entro, evo, info
Counter-enlightenments
II. Progress :
Progressophobia
Life
Health
Sustenance
Wealth
Inequality
The environment
Peace
Safety
Terrorism
Democracy
Equal rights
Knowledge
Quality of life
Happiness
Existential threats
The future of progress
III. Reason, science, and humanism :
Reason
Science
Humanism