The Relevance of the Enlightenment according to Steven Pinker (with Particular Reference to the Idea of Progress) Cover Image

Aktualność Oświecenia według Stevena Pinkera (ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem idei postępu)
The Relevance of the Enlightenment according to Steven Pinker (with Particular Reference to the Idea of Progress)

Author(s): Leszek Kopciuch
Subject(s): German Idealism, Cognitive Psychology
Published by: Uniwersytet Adama Mickiewicza
Keywords: Enlightenment; progress; rationality; humanitarianism; science; Steven Pinker; Immanuel Kant; Francis Fukuyama;

Summary/Abstract: In this article, I begin by sketching Steven Pinker’s understanding of main ideas of the Enlightenment, and then discuss in detail his understanding of the idea of progress. In the reconstruction section, I mainly refer to Pinker’s 2018 work Enlightenment Now: the Case for Science, Reason, Humanism, and Progress. Then I consider the issue of the relationship between Pinker’s concept of progress and the strictly philosophical under- standing of this idea, clarified both in the texts of its defenders and critics.

  • Issue Year: 43/2023
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 11-25
  • Page Count: 15
  • Language: Polish