When I first joined the Enlightenment Book Club, I was hoping to learn about what it would take to found a New Enlightenment movement. Turns out this is already happening, and it does not look like the old Enlightenment.

An internet search for "new enlightenment" will produce mostly esoterical wishy-washy material that has little to do with actual enlightenment, so it took me a while to discover that I am by no means the only one hoping for a new movement of sane thought and honest examination of the human condition, and the world in general. This new movement — somewhat reactionary in nature, and possibly also self-ironical — seems to have agreed on the term "Dark Enlightenment".

I would include the writings of people like , , , , , , under the term Dark Enlightenment — whether or not these thinkers are aware of the existence of this new movement or not, or endorse it, for that matter. Some are certainly calling for a New Enlightenment, some have been pursuing independent, politically incorrect thought for decades.

As our educational standards — not just for the humanities, but also for the hard sciences — have gone from developing cognitive abilities ("How much is 11 times 29?") to cultivating affective ("How do you feel about this?") ones, and critizing Western culture in terms of race, class and gender, certain facts and ideas have moved from being "true" and "right" to being "hate speech". Therefore, if you nevertheless "realize the truth of some hate fact, you have been darkly enlightened" (James Donald).

So far, this is a new, emerging phenomenon, and in some regards little more than a dumping ground for all current dissent, political incorrectness, revisionism, with only the ideals of the first Enlightenment as common guidelines. Common topics are non-Boasian anthropology, non-Keynesian, (especially Austrian school of) economy, human biodiversity (HBD) and race realism, traditionalism, anti-statism/individualism, Western values, and most thinkers refuse to be intimidated by accusations of sexism, racism, classism, etc.

For our next meeting, please read the first three rather short texts in the following menu. The fourth reading is for "extra credit":

Do dabble into the comments, there is a lot happening there, too. One can literally watch (and join) the discussions about which thinker to include in what category of this new movement.

I have found no good videos so far, and only a few visualizations, but these include nice graphic design, maps and trading cards

Have a look:

Prepare to be offended. I am looking forward to a lively discussion.

Cheers,

Rachel