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Enlightenment now : the case for reason, science, humanism, and progress Cover Image

Enlightenment now : the case for reason, science, humanism, and progress / Steven Pinker.

Pinker, Steven, 1954- (author.).

Summary:

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 naïve 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.

Record details

ISBN: 9780525427575
ISBN: 0525427570
Physical Description: xix, 556 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Publisher: New York, New York : Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, [2018]
Copyright: ©2018

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 455-524) and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

Part I: Enlightenment. Dare to understand! ; Entro, evo, info ; Counter-enlightenments -- Part 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 -- Part III: Reason, science, and humanism. Reason ; Science ; Humanism.