I have often been critical of Pinker and his place in the scheme of things: his overall perspective is flawed by his Darwinism which lurks at the core of his work like a time bomb. His social conformity and anti-leftist stuff is carefully discussed in this article.
But his Enlightenment Now actually touches on a key aspect of the eonic model and its place in modernity. The Enlightenment is one of the key data zones in the 'eonic effect' and its 'modern' transition. It needs defenders after the confusions created by various critics and their attacks. It is a spectacular moment just before the divide and the shift in social energies.
That said, the whole subject needs many versions of such defenses, and critiques are possible. But the Enlightenment is greater nature's last creative injection in the larger eonic effect. To see the point look at the decline of ancient world after the Greek Enlightenment. The same thing can happen in modern times and maybe underway already.
I recommend Pinker junk his Darwinism and look at the eonic model in its 'evolutionnary' context. There is a post-relgious mystery in the creative evolution of the eonic sequence... He will of course not do that, and may surprised to find at the end of many labors the weak foundation of Darwinism will cause the crash of his overall oeuvre.

Source: Pinker's progress: the celebrity scientist at the centre of the culture wars | Steven Pinker | The Guardian