It's about the many ways in which the world is improving, and why we don't believe it Fraser Nelson, Spectator In his new book, Enlightenment Now, cognitive scientist Steven Pinker makes a more convincing case for the sciences benefiting the arts New Scientist To accuse him of smugly sipping cocktails at the End of History café is simply to ignore his repeated calls to work for the better future that is there for the taking, but also for the losing Julian Baggini, Literary Review The most uplifting work of science I've ever read ScienceĪ highly topical and much-needed book New Statesman Pinker is bravely prepared to be the bearer of good news Guardian Enlightenment Now is a spirited defence of the enduring ideals of this tradition Times Higher EducationĪ careful and deeply researched piece of work. Pinker's book focuses on the Enlightenment as a philosophical perspective, as a distinctive way of looking at the position of individuals within modern society. Enlightenment Now can hardly be bettered Boston Globe

Pinker's gift is to challenge us not only to update the Enlightenment, but to think beyond it Washington PostĮxhilarating, magnificent, uplifting EconomistĪ valuable book. Conceived before Donald Trump even announced his candidacy, it could not have been better timed to clarify - and, for some, refute - the habits of mind that brought Trump and the GOP to power. If 2017 was a rough year for you, look no further than Steven Pinker's engaging new book, Enlightenment Now, to cheer you up. Pinker is a paragon of exactly the kind of intellectual honesty and courage we need David Brooks, The New York Times Words can hardly do justice to the superlative range and liveliness of Pinker's investigations IndependentĪ salutary reminder of the material progress modern science and commerce have delivered The New York Times This is the case for an Enlightenment newly recharged for the 21st century. But the way to deal with them is not to sink into despair or try to lurch back to a mythical idyllic past it's to treat them as problems we can solve, as we have solved other problems in the past. The challenges we face today are formidable.

These are the values of the Enlightenment: of reason, science, humanism and progress. Such progress is no accident: it's the gift of a coherent value system that many of us embrace without even realizing it. Yet, as Steven Pinker shows, if you follow the trendlines, you discover that our lives have become longer, healthier, safer and more prosperous - not just in the West, but worldwide.

If you follow the headlines, the world in the 21st century appears to be sinking into chaos, hatred and irrationality. Is modernity really failing? Or have we failed to appreciate progress and the ideals that make it possible? One of the world's greatest thinkers tells the heroic story of human progress - and why we neglect it at our peril

Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker