The blank slate : the modern denial of human nature
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Bibliographic Information
The blank slate : the modern denial of human nature
(Penguin books, . Science)
Penguin Books, 2016
- : pbk
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Note
Originally published: Viking Penguin, 2002
"Published in Penguin Books 2003. This edition with a new afterword published 2016"--T.p. verso
Includes bibliographical references (p. 481-512) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
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
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.
Table of Contents
PrefacePart 1: The Blank Slate, the Noble Savage, and the Ghost in the Machine
Chapter 1: The Official Theory
Chapter 2: Silly Putty
Chapter 3: The Last Wall to Fall
Chapter 4: Culture Vultures
Chapter 5: The Slate's Last Stand
Part II: Fear and Loathing
Chapter 6: Political Scientists
Chapter 7: The Holy Trinity
Part III: Human Nature with a Human Face
Chapter 8: The Fear of Inequality
Chapter 9: The Fear on Imperfectibility
Chapter 10: The Fear of Determinism
Chapter 11: The Fear of Nihilism
Part IV: Know Thyself
Chapter 12: In Touch with Reality
Chapter 13: Out of Our Depths
Chapter 14: The Many Roots of Our Suffering
Chapter 15: The Sanctimonious Animal
Part V: Hot Buttons
Chapter 16: Politics
Chapter 17: Violence
Chapter 18: Gender
Chapter 19: Children
Chapter 20: The Arts
Part VI: The Voice of the Species
Appendix: Donald E. Brown's List of Human Universals
Notes
References
Index
by "Nielsen BookData"