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The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 155.234
EAN: 9780142003343
ISBN: 0142003344
Label: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 528
Publication Date: August 26, 2003
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Release Date: August 26, 2003
Studio: Penguin (Non-Classics)
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Editorial Review:
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.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - One of the best books ever
Yeah, I dont mean to come across the wrong way but i do have a degree in philosophy and i honestly think this is one of the best books i have ever read. Even in light of Kant, Hume, Locke, (Descartes sucks), Aristotle etc... This book does NOT seem to create an original system of philosophical thinking, rather this book is a synthesis of all intellectual pursuits put together, Anthropology, psychology, neurology, philosophy, history, etc... His main thesis is determinism, which in my opinion will ... Read More
Rating: - Blank Slate is erased
Stephen Pinker does an admirable job debunking the myth of the blank slate in this tome. Yes, what he says should be common sense by now. No, it is not.
There are many places in the book where Pinker's values and background become evident. However, these are a small price to pay for a great book.
So, what does Pinker do that's so great?
1) He takes his opponents seriously and mounts his case slowly, step by step, taking the reader along with him.
2) He ... Read More
Rating:  - Weak
A friend lend me this book after a discussion. I am not impressed.
In "The Blank Slate", Pinker attacks the concept, giving the book its title, that we are born without any behavioral predispositions, and "The Noble Savage", that pure humans were all complete, moral beings. Although I agree with him that both of these are wrong, I think he is clearly attacking straw-men here. I don't know anybody who has given the topic any serious thought who would think that way. Pinker gives some examples ... Read More
Rating: - A must read for anyone interested in human nature
I am a big fan of Steven Pinker, and this, in my opinion, is his master work. Beautifully written (as always), it is sweeping in its scope. It demolishes the idea that humans are infinitely malleable and have no fixed nature.
Rating: - A Discussion on Human Nature
Pinker argues in favor of evolutionary psychology in this book rather than a blank slate view of human nature (i.e., a view that claims that the mind is formed purely by sensory input with no innate characteristics). Although the arguments in the book mainly focus on the blank slate theory of the mind, Pinker also argues against both the noble savage and the ghost in the machine views; the first view claims that humans are corrupted by civilization (such that the pre-civilization communities lived in a sort ... Read More
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