The Enlightenment Myth of Equality

Will the Enlightenment vision of a better, fairer, world ever be realised or is Western society fragmenting and losing it's sense of purpose? What hope does science hold for for the future of human beings? These questions express some of the concerns many feel about the present state of Western society and about the future both for themselves and their children. Western culture has been constructed around myths and imagery from a primitive past and the stories and beliefs developed in ancient times still unconsciously pervade modern thinking. The Enlightenment was founded on assumptions about the nature of humans and the values implicit within those assumptions. Even though Western society has changed radically over time some beliefs and assumptions persist today; they affect the way we think, speak, act and see the world.