The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature

Widely acknowledged as one of the world's leading experts on language and the workings of the mind, Pulitzer Prize finalist Pinker has undertaken the most ambitious and controversial work of his career--a brilliant reexamination of the concept of human nature. nA brilliant inquiry into the origins of human nature from the author of The Better Angels of Our Nature and Enlightenment Now. nSweeping, erudite, sharply argued, and fun to read..also highly persuasive. --Time n nNow updated with a new afterword n nOne 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.n