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 81
Page x
... social critics about the malleability of the human psyche : that lit- tle boys quarrel and fight because they are encouraged to do so ; that children enjoy sweets because their parents use them as a reward for eating vegetables ; that ...
... social critics about the malleability of the human psyche : that lit- tle boys quarrel and fight because they are encouraged to do so ; that children enjoy sweets because their parents use them as a reward for eating vegetables ; that ...
Page xi
... social engineering projects led to some of the greatest atrocities in history . Though many of my arguments will be coolly analytical - that an ac- knowledgment of human nature does not , logically speaking , imply the nega- tive ...
... social engineering projects led to some of the greatest atrocities in history . Though many of my arguments will be coolly analytical - that an ac- knowledgment of human nature does not , logically speaking , imply the nega- tive ...
Page 2
... social analysts , and other intellectually engaged people . Nonetheless , every society must operate with a theory of human nature , and our intellectual mainstream is committed to another one . The theory is seldom articulated or ...
... social analysts , and other intellectually engaged people . Nonetheless , every society must operate with a theory of human nature , and our intellectual mainstream is committed to another one . The theory is seldom articulated or ...
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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 |