The Blank Slate : The Modern Denial of Human Nature

A 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. PART I. The blank slate, the noble savage, and the ghost in the machine PART I. The blank slate, the noble savage, and the ghost in the machine PART I. The blank slate, the noble savage, and the ghost in the machine PART I. The blank slate, the noble savage, and the ghost in the machine PART I. The blank slate, the noble savage, and the ghost in the machine PART I. The blank slate, the noble savage, and the ghost in the machine -- PART II. Fear and loathing PART I. The blank slate, the noble savage, and the ghost in the machine -- PART II. Fear and loathing PART I. The blank slate, the noble savage, and the ghost in the machine -- PART II. Fear and loathing -- PART III. Human nature with a human face PART I. The blank slate, the noble savage, and the ghost in the machine -- PART II. Fear and loathing -- PART III. Human nature with a human face PART I. The blank slate, the noble savage, and the ghost in the machine -- PART II. Fear and loathing -- PART III. Human nature with a human face PART I. The blank slate, the noble savage, and the ghost in the machine -- PART II. Fear and loathing -- PART III. Human nature with a human face PART I. The blank slate, the noble savage, and the ghost in the machine -- PART II. Fear and loathing -- PART III. Human nature with a human face -- PART IV. Know thyself PART I. The blank slate, the noble savage, and the ghost in the machine -- PART II. Fear and loathing -- PART III. Human nature with a human face -- PART IV. Know thyself PART I. The blank slate, the noble savage, and the ghost in the machine -- PART II. Fear and loathing -- PART III. Human nature with a human face -- PART IV. Know thyself PART I. The blank slate, the noble savage, and the ghost in the machine -- PART II. Fear and loathing -- PART III. Human nature with a human face -- PART IV. Know thyself PART I. The blank slate, the noble savage, and the ghost in the machine -- PART II. Fear and loathing -- PART III. Human nature with a human face -- PART IV. Know thyself -- PART V. Hot buttons PART I. The blank slate, the noble savage, and the ghost in the machine -- PART II. Fear and loathing -- PART III. Human nature with a human face -- PART IV. Know thyself -- PART V. Hot buttons PART I. The blank slate, the noble savage, and the ghost in the machine -- PART II. Fear and loathing -- PART III. Human nature with a human face -- PART IV. Know thyself -- PART V. Hot buttons PART I. The blank slate, the noble savage, and the ghost in the machine -- PART II. Fear and loathing -- PART III. Human nature with a human face -- PART IV. Know thyself -- PART V. Hot buttons PART I. The blank slate, the noble savage, and the ghost in the machine -- PART II. Fear and loathing -- PART III. Human nature with a human face -- PART IV. Know thyself -- PART V. Hot buttons PART I. The blank slate, the noble savage, and the ghost in the machine -- PART II. Fear and loathing -- PART III. Human nature with a human face -- PART IV. Know thyself -- PART V. Hot buttons -- PART VI. Voice of the species -- Appendix: PART I. The blank slate, the noble savage, and the ghost in the machine-- PART II. Fear and loathing-- PART III. Human nature with a human face-- PART IV. Know thyself-- PART V. Hot buttons-- PART VI. Voice of the species-- Appendix:

In The Blank Slate, Steven Pinker, 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.

Publishers Weekly

In his last outing, How the Mind Works, the author of the well-received The Language Instinct made a case for evolutionary psychology or the view that human beings have a hard-wired nature that evolved over time. This book returns to that still-controversial territory in order to shore it up in the public sphere. Drawing on decades of research in the "sciences of human nature," Pinker, a chaired professor of psychology at MIT, attacks the notion that an infant's mind is a blank slate, arguing instead that human beings have an inherited universal structure shaped by the demands made upon the species for survival, albeit with plenty of room for cultural and individual variation. For those who have been following the sciences in question including cognitive science, neuroscience, behavioral genetics and evolutionary psychology much of the evidence will be familiar, yet Pinker's clear and witty presentation, complete with comic strips and allusions to writers from Woody Allen to Emily Dickinson, keeps the material fresh. What might amaze is the persistent, often vitriolic resistance to these findings Pinker presents and systematically takes apart, decrying the hold of the "blank slate" and other orthodoxies on intellectual life. He goes on to tour what science currently claims to know about human nature, including its cognitive, intuitive and emotional faculties, and shows what light this research can shed on such thorny topics as gender inequality, child-rearing and modern art. Pinker's synthesizing of many fields is impressive but uneven, especially when he ventures into moral philosophy and religion; examples like "Even Hitler thought he was carrying out the will of God" violate Pinker's own principle that one should not exploit Nazism "for rhetorical clout." For the most part, however, the book is persuasive and illuminating; extensive review coverage and a 10-city author tour should bring it into E.O. Wilson and Stephen Jay Gould territory in terms of sales. (Sept. 30) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

"In The Blank Slate, Steven Pinker explores the idea of human nature and its moral, emotional, and political colorings. He shows how many intellectuals have denied the existence of human nature by embracing three linked dogmas: the Blank Slate (the mind has no innate traits), the Noble Savage (people are born good and corrupted by society), and the Ghost in the Machine (each of us has a soul that makes choices free from biology). Each dogma carries a moral burden, so their defenders have engaged in desperate tactics to discredit the scientists who are now challenging them.". "Pinker injects calm and rationality into these debates by showing that equality, progress, responsibility, and purpose have nothing to fear from discoveries about a rich human nature. He disarms even the most menacing threats with clear thinking, common sense, and pertinent facts from science and history. Despite its popularity among intellectuals during much of the twentieth century, he argues, the doctrine of the Blank Slate may have done more harm than good. It denies our common humanity and our individual preferences, replaces hardheaded analyses of social problems with feel-good slogans, and distorts our understanding of government, violence, parenting, and the arts.". "Pinker shows that an acknowledgement of human nature that is grounded in science and common sense, far from being dangerous, can complement insights about the human condition made by millennia of artists and philosophers. All this is done in the style that earned his previous books many prizes and worldwide acclaim: wit, lucidity, and insight into matters great and small."--BOOK JACKET. In A Study Of The Nature Versus Nurture Debate, One Of The World's Foremost Experts On Language And The Mind Explores The Modern Self-denial Of Our Basic Human Natures. Part I. The Blank Slate, The Noble Savage, And The Ghost In The Machine -- Official Theory -- Silly Putty -- Last Wall To Fall -- Culture Vultures -- Slate's Last Stand -- Part Ii. Fear And Loathing -- Political Scientists -- Holy Trinity -- Part Iii. Human Nature With A Human Face -- Fear Of Inequality -- Fear Of Imperfectibility -- Fear Of Determinism -- Fear Of Nihilism -- Part Iv. Know Thyself -- In Touch With Reality -- Out Of Our Depths -- Many Roots Of Our Suffering -- Sanctimonious Animal -- Part V. Hot Buttons -- Politics -- Violence -- Gender -- Children -- Arts -- Part Vi. Voice Of The Species -- Appendix: Donald E. Brown's List Of Human Universals Steven Pinker. Includes Bibliographical Notes And Bibliography (p. 441-489) And Index. "In The blank slate, Steven Pinker, 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 doctrine that he mind has no innate traits--a doctrine embraced 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."--Page 4 of cover