- The first chapter of [The Beginning of Infinity] by David Deutsch.
- The philosophers and scientists of the Enlightenment rejected deference to traditional authorities such as religions and the government.
- Deutsch argues that rejection of authority cannot be the only reason for sustained progress since the Enlightenment.
- Deutsch suggests that there had been many instances of rejections of authority in the past, but they were usually replaced with some other authority.
- According to Deutsch, what distinguished the Enlightenment from these earlier rejections of authority was the "culture of criticism" that accompanied it.