The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature

ISBN-13:	9780142003343
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/26/2003
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	560
Sales rank:	194,634
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	18 - 17 Years

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 PrizeUpdated with a new afterwordOne 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.