Darkened Enlightenment: The Deterioration of Democracy, Human Rights, and Rational Thought in the Twenty-First Century

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Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents List of boxes About the author Preface Acknowledgments 1 Enlightened rational thought Introduction Antecedents to the Enlightenment The Renaissance (c.1300–1600) The Scientific Revolution (c.1600–1700) The Enlightenment (c.1700–1840s) European Enlightenment thinkers American Enlightenment thinkers The Age of Reason The Century of Criticism The conservative reaction Critical thinking and higher education Twentieth-centuryscientific achievements Connecting enlightened rational thought with popular culture Summary 2 The darkness that surrounds us: the deterioration of democracy and human rights Introduction Lies, falsehoods, and misleading claims Declaring the news media as the “enemy of the people” Populism and nationalism Examining populism and nationalism Are we in an “Age of Populism?” Populism in the United States Populist movements in Europe Populist movements in other parts of the world The deterioration of freedom and human rights Deterioration of freedom, globally Deterioration of freedom, the United States Social stratification and economic disparity Social stratification: wealth and income disparity Poverty The attack on collective bargaining and unions Global economic inequality Connecting enlightened rational thought with popular culture Summary 3 The darkness that surrounds us: unenlightened and irrational thinking Introduction Attempts to devalue education The multi-facetedvalue of higher educati Attacks on higher education A disbelief in science A disbelief in science in the United States A disbelief in science around the world Attacks on the environment Dependency of fossil fuels and climate change Human contributions to the sixth mass extinction Pseudoscience: a by-productof unreasoned and irrational thinking Believing in false science Thinking that is devoid of reason Connecting enlightened rational thought with popular culture Summary 4 A flooded swamp Introduction The political swamp The meaning of the swamp The longevity of the swamp “Drain the swamp” The swamp has not been drained; it is deeper and murkier Circumventing ethics in lobbying The muck of Trump’s White House Judicial appointments and the potential for a long-termmess The acting government The clogged swamp The Deep State Explaining the Deep State Dangerous secret societies Too big to fail … from flooding the swamp Big Business Big Tech Big Data Big Pharma Big Banks Big Religion Connecting enlightened rational thought with popular culture Summary 5 Will the light of rational thought chase away the darkness? Introduction Signs of light Progress, guided by enlightened rational thought Social movements Signs of further darkness The future Bibliography Index