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

Enlightenment now index

Source: © Penguin / Allen Lane

 Steven Pinker sets out to prove we’re living longer, healthier, safer, richer, freer, happier and more meaningful lives than ever before

Steven Pinker must be incredibly pleased with himself. That’s not to say his latest book is any good – it isn’t – but there is a pervasive smugness to Enlightenment now that drips off every page. Early on, Pinker congratulates himself on an answer he gave a student. He follows it up by propping up nonsense straw man arguments against his work and shooting them down with snark. And that’s before we really get going with the book at all.