Steven Pinker’s Weak Defense of Enlightenment Values vs. Religion

Podcast audio:

In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Onkar Ghate and Ben Bayer discuss a recent essay by Steven Pinker and Marian Tupy (“The Golden Age of Humanity? We’re Living In It”) that aims to offer a secular alternative to the recent resurgence in religious culture.

Topics include:

• The Anti-Enlightenment Phenomenon;
• Pinker and Tupy’s secular strengths;
• A weak critique of Christian morality;
• Christian morality and antisemitism;
• Understanding the crisis of meaning;
• Unphilosophical moral foundations;
• Alternative, Pro-Enlightenment moral foundation.

Resources: 

• “The Objectivist Ethics,” Ayn Rand
• “Finding Morality and Happiness Without God,” Onkar Ghate
• “Debunking the Supernaturalism That Haunts Secular Ethics,” Ben Bayer

This episode was recorded on December 16, 2025, and posted on January 2, 2026. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here.

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