Why Pure Reason Won't End American Tribalism

If you haven't encountered any reviews of Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker's new bestseller Enlightenment Now--which would be amazing, given how many there have been--don't worry. I can summarize them in two paragraphs. The positive ones say Pinker argues convincingly that we should be deeply grateful for the Enlightenment and should put our stock in its legacy. A handful of European thinkers who were born a few centuries ago set our species firmly on the path of progress with their compelling commitment to science, reason, and humanism (where humanism means "maximizing human flourishing"). Things have indeed, as Pinker documents in great detail, gotten better in pretty much every way--materially, morally, politically--since then. And if we stay true to Enlightenment values, they'll keep getting better.