Darkened Enlightenment,Tim Delaney

-About this book

The premise of Darkened Enlightenment is to highlight the fact that there currently exist a number of socio-political forces that have the design, or ultimate consequence, of trying to extinguish the light of reason and rationality.
The book presents a critique of modernity and provides a socio-political and cultural analysis of world society in the early twenty-first century. Specifically, this analysis examines the deterioration of democracy, human rights, and rational thought. Key features include a combination of academic analysis that draws on numerous and specific examples of the growing darkness that surrounds us along with a balanced practical, everyday-life approach to the study of the socio-political world we live in through the use of popular culture references and featured boxes.
The general audience will also be intrigued by these same topics that concern academics including: a discussion on the meaning of « fake news »; attacks on the media and a declaration of the news media as the « enemy of the people »; the rise of populism and nationalism around the world; the deterioration of freedom and human rights globally; the growing economic disparity between the rich and the poor; attempts to devalue education; a growing disbelief in science; attacks on the environment; pseudoscience as a by-product of unreasoned and irrational thinking; the political swamp; the power elites and the deep state; and the variations of Big Business that impact our daily lives. This book will make a great contribution to such fields as sociology, philosophy, political science, environmental science, public administration, economics, psychology, and cultural studies.

-CONTENTS

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xiv

1-Enlightened rational thought 1

Introduction 1

Antecedents to the Enlightenment 2

The Enlightenment (c.1700–1840s) 11

Critical thinking and higher education 26

Twentieth-century scientific achievements 28

Connecting enlightened rational thought with popular culture 31

2- The darkness that surrounds us: the deterioration of democracy and human rights 35

Introduction 35

Lies, falsehoods, and misleading claims 37

Declaring the news media as the “enemy of the people” 46

Populism and nationalism 54

The deterioration of freedom and human rights 75

Social stratification and economic disparity 82

Connecting enlightened rational thought with popular culture 89      

3- The darkness that surrounds us: unenlightened and irrational thinking 91

Introduction 91

Attempts to devalue education 91

A disbelief in science 106

Attacks on the environment 116

Pseudoscience: a by-product of unreasoned and irrational thinking 131

Connecting enlightened rational thought with popular culture 137

4- A flooded swamp 141

Introduction 141

The political swamp 141

The swamp has not been drained; it is deeper and murkier 149

The Deep State 164

Too big to fail … from flooding the swamp 177

Connecting enlightened rational thought with popular culture 192

5 -Will the light of rational thought chase away the  darkness? 196

Introduction 196

Signs of light 196

Signs of further darkness 199

The future 200

Bibliography 202

Index 231

-caractéristiques

Date de parution:8 juin 2020

Éditeur : Routledge  

Langue : Anglais

NB.de pages : 248 pages

ISBN-10 : 0367461307

ISBN-13 : 978-0367461300

Poids de l’article : 349 g

Dimensions : 15.6 x 1.42 x 23.4 cm