The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human NatureA brilliant inquiry into the origins of human nature from the author of Rationality, The Better Angels of Our Nature, and Enlightenment Now. "Sweeping, erudite, sharply argued, and fun to read..also highly persuasive." --Time Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize Updated with a new afterword One of the world's leading experts on language and the mind explores the idea of human nature and its moral, emotional, and political colorings. With characteristic wit, lucidity, and insight, Pinker argues that the dogma that the mind has no innate traits-a doctrine held by many intellectuals during the past century-denies our common humanity and our individual preferences, replaces objective analyses of social problems with feel-good slogans, and distorts our understanding of politics, violence, parenting, and the arts. Injecting calm and rationality into debates that are notorious for ax-grinding and mud-slinging, Pinker shows the importance of an honest acknowledgment of human nature based on science and common sense. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 64
Page i
... innately flawed but wonderfully rich human nature is a force for good , not evil . " -Colin McGinn , The Washington Post " Steven Pinker is a man of encyclopedic knowledge and an incisive style of ar- gument . His argument in The Blank ...
... innately flawed but wonderfully rich human nature is a force for good , not evil . " -Colin McGinn , The Washington Post " Steven Pinker is a man of encyclopedic knowledge and an incisive style of ar- gument . His argument in The Blank ...
Page ii
... innate .... This is a breath of air for a topic that has been politicized for too long . " - The Economist " [ Pinker ] wades resolutely into the comforting gloom surrounding these not quite forbidden topics and calmly , lucidly ...
... innate .... This is a breath of air for a topic that has been politicized for too long . " - The Economist " [ Pinker ] wades resolutely into the comforting gloom surrounding these not quite forbidden topics and calmly , lucidly ...
Page viii
... innate organization strikes people not as a hy- pothesis that might be incorrect but as a thought it is immoral to think . This book is about the moral , emotional , and political colorings of the concept of human nature in modern life ...
... innate organization strikes people not as a hy- pothesis that might be incorrect but as a thought it is immoral to think . This book is about the moral , emotional , and political colorings of the concept of human nature in modern life ...
Page x
... innate human constitu- tion that they have thrown logic and civility out the window . Elementary distinctions— “ some ” versus “ all , " " probable " versus " always , ” “ is ” versus " ought " —are eagerly flouted to paint human nature ...
... innate human constitu- tion that they have thrown logic and civility out the window . Elementary distinctions— “ some ” versus “ all , " " probable " versus " always , ” “ is ” versus " ought " —are eagerly flouted to paint human nature ...
Page 2
... innate tendency to choose sin . Our cognitive and perceptual faculties work accurately because God implanted ideals in them that correspond to reality and because he coordinates their functioning with the outside world . Mental health ...
... innate tendency to choose sin . Our cognitive and perceptual faculties work accurately because God implanted ideals in them that correspond to reality and because he coordinates their functioning with the outside world . Mental health ...
Contents
The Official Theory | 5 |
Silly Putty | 14 |
The Last Wall to Fall | 30 |
Culture Vultures | 59 |
The Slates Last Stand | 73 |
Fear and Loathing | 103 |
Political Scientists | 105 |
The Holy Trinity | 121 |
Out of Our Depths | 219 |
The Many Roots of Our Suffering | 241 |
The Sanctimonious Animal | 269 |
Hot Buttons | 281 |
Politics | 283 |
Violence | 306 |
Gender | 337 |
Children | 372 |
Human Nature with a Human Face | 137 |
The Fear of Inequality | 141 |
The Fear of Imperfectibility | 159 |
The Fear of Determinism | 174 |
The Fear of Nihilism | 186 |
Know Thyself | 195 |
In Touch with Reality | 197 |
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Common terms and phrases
ability American animals argue become behavior believe better biology Blank Slate body brain called Cambridge cause century Chapter child claim cognitive comes common complex concept cortex course culture effects emotions environment equality evolution evolutionary evolved example experience explain fact fear feel genes genetic give human nature idea identical images individual innate intellectual intelligence interests kind language learning less living logic look male Marxism Mass matter means mental mind moral objects organism parents person Pinker political Press problem psychology punishment rape reason recent responsibility scientists selection sense sexual share similar social society species theory things thought tion traits turn understanding University University Press values violence visual Wilson women wrote York
References to this book
Evolution in Four Dimensions: Genetic, Epigenetic, Behavioral, and Symbolic ... Eva Jablonka,Marion J. Lamb No preview available - 2005 |
Introduction to Psycholinguistics, 2/e, An Danny D Steinberg,Natalia V. Sciarini No preview available - 2006 |