Publications

2018
Pinker, S. (2018). The Intellectual War on Science: It’s wreaking havoc in universities and jeopardizing the progress of research. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Publisher's Version
Pinker, S. (2018). ‘Reason is non-negotiable’: Steven Pinker on the Enlightenment. The Guardian: The Observer. Publisher's Version
Pinker, S. (2018). The Enlightenment Is Working. The Wall Street Journal . Publisher's Version
Pinker, S. (2018). The Bright Side. Time Magazine. Publisher's Version
Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress
Pinker, S. (2018). Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress . Viking.Abstract

Now Available in Paperback

"My new favorite book of all time." —Bill Gates 

Is the world really falling apart? Is the ideal of progress obsolete? In this elegant assessment of the human condition in the third millennium, cognitive scientist and public intellectual Steven Pinker urges us to step back from the gory headlines and prophecies of doom, which play to our psychological biases. Instead, follow the data: In 75 jaw-dropping graphs, Pinker shows that life, health, prosperity, safety, peace, knowledge, and happiness are on the rise, not just in the West, but worldwide. This progress is not the result of some cosmic force. It is a gift of the Enlightenment: the conviction that reason and science can enhance human flourishing.

Far from being a naïve hope, the Enlightenment, we now know, has worked. But more than ever, it needs a vigorous defense. The Enlightenment project swims against currents of human nature—tribalism, authoritarianism, demonization, magical thinking—which demagogues are all too willing to exploit. Many commentators, committed to political, religious, or romantic ideologies, fight a rearguard action against it. The result is a corrosive fatalism and a willingness to wreck the precious institutions of liberal democracy and global cooperation.

With intellectual depth and literary flair, Pinker makes the case for reason, science, and humanism: the ideals we need to confront our problems and continue our progress.

Enlightenment Wars: Some Reflections on ‘Enlightenment Now,’ One Year Later

Adaptations and Essays

Reply to a 2019 article in Salon by P. Torres
Reply to a 2019 article in The Guardian by J. Hickel

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REVIEWS
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Interviews & Articles

2017
Freitas, J. D., DeScioli, P., Nemirow, J., Massenkoff, M., & Pinker, S. (2017). Kill or Die: Moral Judgment Alters Linguistic Coding of Causality. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition , 43 (8), 1173–1182. Publisher's Version
2016
Thomas, K., DeScioli, P., Freitas, J. D., & Pinker, S. (2016). Recursive Mentalizing and Common Knowledge in the Bystander Effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology General , 145 (5). Thomas_Descioli_De_Freitas_Pinker_Recursive_Mentalizing_2016.pdf
Spagat, M., & Pinker, S. (2016). World War III: the final exchange. Significance , 13 (6), 46. Publisher's Version
Spagat, M., & Pinker, S. (2016). Warfare. Significance , 13 (3), 44. Publisher's Version
(2016). Steven Pinker elected to National Academy of Sciences. Publisher's Version
Pinker, S. (2016). Steven Pinker on the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Wall Street Journal.
Pinker, S., & Santos, J. M. (2016). Colombia's Milestone in World Peace. New York Times.
Shoard, C., Perry, P., Pinker, S., Keltner, D., Blackmore, S., & Greenfield, S. (2016). Psycho thrillers: five movies that teach us how the mind works. The Guardian.
Goldstein, S. & Pinker, S. (2016). The decline of war and violence. The Boston Globe.
Pinker, S. (2016). What to Expect in 2016: New Advances in Behavioral Genetics. Wall Street Journal .
The Blank Slate (2002/2016)
Pinker, S. (2016). The Blank Slate (2002/2016) . New York, NY: Viking.Abstract

A brilliant inquiry into the origins of human nature.
One of the world's leading experts on language and the mind explores the idea of human nature and its moral, emotional, and political colorings. With characteristic wit, lucidity, and insight, Pinker argues that the dogma that the mind has no innate traits-a doctrine held by many intellectuals during the past century-denies our common humanity and our individual preferences, replaces objective analyses of social problems with feel-good slogans, and distorts our understanding of politics, violence, parenting, and the arts. Injecting calm and rationality into debates that are notorious for ax-grinding and mud-slinging, Pinker shows the importance of an honest acknowledgment of human nature based on science and common sense.

"Sweeping, erudite, sharply argued, and fun to read...
also highly persuasive." —Michael Lemonick, Time

Now updated with a new afterword

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2015
Pinker, S. (2015). Graphic evidence: Steven Pinker's optimism on trial. The Guardian.Abstract

Every year the eminent psychology professor updates the 100 graphs that appeared in his 2011 book The Better ­Angels of Our Nature, showing that every form of violence is in decline. Here are his latest findings.

Pinker, S. (2015). Steven Pinker interview: case against bioethocrats & CRISPR germline ban. www.ipscell.com. Publisher's Version
Pinker, S. (2015). Experts debate: Are we playing with fire when we edit human genes? STAT.
Goldstein, J., & Pinker, S. (2015). Inconvenient truths for the environmental movement. Boston Globe.

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