This essay strives to update the answers to the crucial questions posed by Immanuel Kant at the end of the 18th century: - What can we know for sure? - What may we reasonably hope for? - What could, and therefore, should we do? "It is a passionate attempt to salvage the highest achievement of the Enlightenment, democracy, with reason, integrity, credibility, and feasibility, by synthesizing the good and ugly lessons of our Western history into a fresh approach to human society and development. An open-eyed, provocative assessment of Modernity that is, at its heart, a plea against cynicism,...