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Author:

Pinker, Steven, 1954-

Title:

The blank slate : the modern denial of human nature / Steven Pinker.

Publisher:

Penguin,

Copyright Date:

2002

Description:

xvi, 509 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.

Subject:

Nature and nurture.
Hérédité et milieu.
Menselijke natuur.
Erfelijkheid en omgeving.
Sociale evolutie.
Psychobiologie.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. 461-489) and index.

Contents:

Appendix: Donald E. Brown's list of human universals. 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.

Summary:

"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.

ISBN:

9780142003343 (pbk.)
0142003344 (pbk.)

OCLC:

(OCoLC)53356050

LCCN:

2002022719

Locations:

USUX851 -- Iowa State University - Parks Library (Ames)

GBPF771 -- Ankeny Kirkendall Public Library (Ankeny)

JLPF081 -- Ericson Public Library (Boone)

UNUX074 -- University of Northern Iowa - Rod Library (Cedar Falls)

PTAX572 -- Stewart Memorial Library (Cedar Rapids)

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