(2018-02-22) Defending The Enlightenment

Defending the Enlightenment

In Enlightenment Now, the Harvard cognitive scientist Steven Pinker defends those ideals, arguing that "we can apply reason and sympathy to enhance human flourishing." He also worries that many of us take for granted the Enlightenment ideals and institutions that have made our relatively peaceful and prosperous world possible.

Pinker notes that rising incomes correlate with the growing respect for "emancipative values" such as women's equality, free speech, gay rights, and participatory democracy.

Pinker is worried about the spread of authoritarian nationalism in many Western countries. The new would-be autocrats appeal to tribalist instincts and encourage zero-sum thinking: the idea that the gains of others must come at our expense.

Tyler Cowen: Enlightenment Now, the new Steven Pinker book: The book is very clearly written, and it would do most of the world good to read it