For a bloke like me, firmly in the Aristotelean segment of the Judaeo-Christian tradition, I know what I mean when I say `soul' or `free-will' or even `consciousness.' But the meanings of those words are pretty heatedly disputed in the marketplace of ideas, probably more so than the idea of dignity.

But as for TFA, I think Pinker spends too much time agonizing over what is probably best summed up as `GWB puts together another council based on personal loyalty and ideology rather than merit; the expected results follow.'

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There is no more degenerate kind of state than that in which the richest are supposed to be the best.
Cicero, The Republic
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