Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress

“Publius Decius Mus” (Michael Anton), 448, 449

Pulitzer Prize, 52

purpose, absence of in nature, 8, 24, 394–5, 434–5

“spirituality” and, 434

Putin, Vladimir, 159, 201, 205, 335, 336

Putnam, Robert, 274, 432

Pynchon, Thomas, 456n1

Pythagoras, 23

Quakers (Society of Friends), 162, 412

quality of life, 247–61

and diet, diversification of, 258–9

entertainment and culture, diversity of, 260–61

fundamental capabilities, 248, 264–5, 413

and GDP, 95

leisure time and family life, 255–6, 256

light, affordability of, 253–4, 253–4

necessities, cost of, 254–5, 254

plane travel, affordability of, 257–8, 258

poverty, alleviation of, 251, 473–4n8

secularization and, 438–9, 490n87

time required to stay alive, 248–52, 252, 255

travel/tourism, 258–9, 259

vacation time, 251

See also happiness; well-being, subjective

quantitative mindset. See objective measurement

quantum mechanics, 423, 424, 425, 427

Quarantelli, Enrico, 305

Quayle, Dan, 255, 374–5

Qutb, Sayyid, 441

Rabi, Isidor, 308

Rabinowitch, Eugene, 311

racism, 214–15

and academia’s left-wing tilt, 373–4

of ancient Greeks toward Africans, 397

global progress in, 222

Internet searches as index of, 217–19, 218, 339–40, 471n13

and interracial marriage, 376

of medieval Muslims toward Africans, 397

police shootings of African Americans, 215–16, 471n6

public opinion in the U.S., 216–17, 216, 471n8

of Romans toward Britons, 397

“scientific racism” misdescribed, 397–8, 486n32

Trump’s election and, 339–40

Radelet, Steven, 59, 90, 91, 93, 459n16

radioactive fallout, 133–4, 315

Radner, Gilda, 266

Railton, Peter, 429

Raitt, Bonnie, 147

Ramdas, Kavita, 94

Ramon, Gaston, 64

rampage shootings, 191, 193–6

categorization as terrorism, 192, 193–4

copycat killings, 193–4

media response, recommendations for, 198

motives of killers, 196, 216

Rand, Ayn, 446

Randomistas, 380–81

rare events, probability of, 46, 162, 290, 292–3

Rawcliffe, Carol, 181

Rawls, John, 88, 412

Rayburn, Sam, 16

Raza, Raheel, 443

Reagan, Ronald, 110, 115, 316, 374–5

real estate, social status, and dematerialization, 135

reason, 8, 351–84

Cartesian argument, 8, 351–2, 413, 482n4

and cosmopolitanism, 11

depoliticizing, 381–3

evolutionary roots in hunter-gatherers, 353–4

fact-checking in media, 375–6

and human irrationality, 8–9, 351, 353, 358, 375, 407, 482n6

increase of, despite contrary sense, 380–81

the meaning of life and, 3–4

vs. politicization, 381–4

and religion, 8, 30, 388, 389, 393–5

subjectivity and, 351–2, 390

See also cognition; cognitive biases

reductionism, 388, 392–3

Reed, Lou, 284

Rees, Martin, 290–91, 301, 423

reforestation, 76, 130, 134, 150, 459n25

refrigeration, 75, 82, 251, 252

refugees/displaced persons, 160, 338, 466n12

relationships. See family life; social support vs. isolation

relativism

incoherence of, 351–2

morality and, 429–30

Nietzsche as inspiring, 445, 446

postmodernism and, 406

of religion, 429, 430

religion, 8, 30, 31–2, 420–43

and capitalism, development of, 84, 85

and China, freedoms in, 204

commerce as ameliorating hatreds, 84

Cornwall Declaration on environment, 287

as counter-Enlightenment, 30, 31–2

decline of. See secularization

development of (Axial Age), 23

doomsday prophecies by, 294

equal rights for religious minorities, 222

freedom of, utilitarianism and, 417

humanism, clashes with, 30, 432–3

humanism, compatibility with, 412, 431–2

Inquisition, 442

and morality. See Euthyphro (Plato); morality: basis of; theism and theistic morality

positive contributions to community, 431–2

revival of, 435, 436, 438

science encroaching on, 388, 391, 394–5, 422–3

separation of church and state, 418, 441

spirituality, 433–5

summum bonum, rethinking of, 84

theodicy (rationalization for suffering), 39, 423

See also God; soul, immaterial; specific religions

Republican Party

attempts to repeal Obamacare, 109

and climate change, 357

democratic norms undermined by, 374

electoral floor of support for, 338

increased partisanship of, 371–2

innumeracy of, on polarized topics, 361

journalists in, 484n54

theoconservatism and, 448–9

war on science of, 387–8

See also political ideologies of left and right; populism

Rhodes, Richard, 313

Richardson, Samuel, 284

Richards, Robert, 398

Ridley, Matt, 464n45

Riesman, David, 274

Right Revolutions, 43

Rijpma, Auke, 245

rinderpest (cattle plague), 65

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, homicide rates in, 172

rivers. See waterways

Rizvi, Ali, 443

roads and highways, 168–9, 178

Robinson, John, 255

Rock, Chris, 69, 374

Rockwell, Norman, 256

Romania, 341

romantic heroism, 33, 419–20, 443–51

disdain for the common person, 444–5, 446, 447

fascist movements inspired by, 445, 448

intellectuals and artists as fans, 445, 446–7, 452

and nationalism, 165–6, 445, 447, 448, 449–51

rejection of Enlightenment, 33, 444–5

and relativism, 445, 446

sexism of, 444

and totalitarian dictators, 445, 446–7, 491n118

Trumpism as influenced by, 448–50, 491n118

and will to power, 33, 296, 444, 445

See also Nietzsche, Friedrich

Romanticism, 11, 30, 33

counter-Enlightenment, 30, 351

environmental movement and, 32, 121, 122

and factory work, 92