Share <Embed>

Buy New

$17.00

List Price: $20.00
Save: $3.00 (15%)

FREE Shipping on orders over $25—or get FREE Two-Day Shipping with Amazon Prime

In Stock.

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Want it Wednesday, Oct. 24? Order within and choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

Select delivery location

Buy Used

$12.89

FREE Shipping on orders over $25.

Select delivery location

Used: Good | Details

Sold by District Sellers

Fulfilled by Amazon

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Added to

Unable to add item to List. Please try again.

Other Sellers on Amazon

Add to Cart

$12.16
+ $3.99 shipping

Sold by: LOBook

Add to Cart

$12.95
+ $3.99 shipping

Sold by: Gama1521

Add to Cart

$17.24
+ Free Shipping

Sold by: BOOK- LAND

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 3 images

The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature Paperback – August 26, 2003

by Steven Pinker (Author)

361 customer reviews

See all 19 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$10.93

—

—

"Please retry"

$33.45

Paperback

"Please retry"

$17.00

Audible Audiobook, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$0.00

Free with your Audible trial

MP3 CD, Audiobook, MP3 Audio, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$14.99

Unknown Binding

"Please retry"

—

—

Note: Available at a lower price from other sellers that may not offer free Prime shipping.

A brilliant inquiry into the origins of human nature from the author of The Better Angels of Our Nature and Enlightenment Now.

"Sweeping, erudite, sharply argued, and fun to read..also highly persuasive." --Time

Now 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.

Frequently bought together

+
+

Total price: $52.34

Buy the selected items together

This item:The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker Paperback $17.00
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker Paperback $16.20
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress by Steven Pinker Hardcover $19.14
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Steven Pinker

251

Paperback
$16.20
Steven Pinker

790

Paperback
$13.61
Steven Pinker

227

Paperback
$17.09
Steven Pinker

115

Paperback
$15.57
Steven Pinker

513

Hardcover
$19.14
Jonathan Haidt

1,322

in History of Religion & Politics
Paperback
$13.69

Sponsored products related to this item (What's this?)

Page 1 of 1Start overPage 1 of 1

Feedback

Ray Dalio

729

Hardcover
$18.00
Feedback

Jerome R. Corsi Ph.D.

Jerome Corsi uncovers the secret conspiracy to destroy the Trump presidency and what Trump must do now to prevail.

1731

Hardcover
$20.39
Feedback

Steve Stewart-Williams

2

Just released

Hardcover
$18.81
Feedback

William Strunk Jr.

50

Paperback
$13.38
Feedback

Timothy R. Jennings

214

Paperback
$14.45
Feedback

Ian Morgan Cron

349

Hardcover
$20.40
Feedback

Ray Dalio

15

Pre-order now

Paperback
$42.03

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An extremely good book-clear, well argued, fair, learned, tough, witty, humane, stimulating." (The Washington Post)

"Pinker makes his main argument persuasively and with great verve...ought to be read by anybody who feels they hav had enough of the nature-nurture rows." (The Economist)

"Stylish...what a superb thinker and writer he is." (Richard Dawkins, TLS)

"Required reading...an unanswerable case for accepting that man can be, as he is, both wired and free." (Frederick Raphael, Los Angeles Times)

About the Author

Steven Pinker, author of The Better Angels of our Nature, is the Harvard College Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. A two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and the winner of many awards for his research, teaching, and books, he has been named one of Time's 100 Most Influential People in the World Today and Foreign Policy's 100 Global Thinkers.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product details

Paperback: 528 pages
Publisher: Penguin Books; Reprint edition (August 26, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0142003344
ISBN-13: 978-0142003343
Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.2 x 9.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 361 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,900 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #15 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Psychology & Counseling > Evolutionary Psychology
- #26 in Books > Medical Books > Psychology > Cognitive Neuroscience & Neuropsychology
- #137 in Books > Science & Math > Evolution

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

Be the first video

Your name here

Sponsored products related to this item (What's this?)

Page 1 of 1Start overPage 1 of 1

Feedback

Jerome R. Corsi Ph.D.

Jerome Corsi uncovers the secret conspiracy to destroy the Trump presidency and what Trump must do now to prevail.

1731

Hardcover
$20.39
Feedback

Timothy R. Jennings

214

Paperback
$14.45
Feedback

Barrie Davenport

Reduce Your Anxiety and Live in the Present Moment by Journaling Your Thoughts on 365 Daily Mindful Writing Prompts.

56

Paperback
$14.44
Feedback

Roman Gelperin

A self-help manual, and a rigorous analysis of the psychology of motivation. Solve your motivational problems, by understanding how the mind works.

264

Paperback
$8.09
Feedback

Travis Bradberry

1254

Hardcover
$14.99
Feedback

William Strunk Jr.

50

Paperback
$13.38
Feedback

Gregg Krech

Apply the principles of Zen Buddhism to overcome procrastination and live a purposeful, more meaningful life.

118

Kindle Edition
$4.98

Try the Kindle edition and experience these great reading features:

See Kindle Edition

361 customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars

By customer groups & interests

Evolution

4.3

Psychology

3.9

Is this feature helpful?

Thank you for your feedback.

Review this product

Write a customer review

Showing 1-6 of 361 reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Amazing and very well researched, will re-shape the context of many things in your every day life

July 9, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I picked up this book since Richard Dawkins talked about his work with Mr Pinker on his chapter of evolution. Like Richard Dawkins, Steven Pinker doesn't shy away from controversy, and just like Dawkins he's extremely well educated in his subjects in the smallest of details.

He lights up a giant science blowtorch to both the left and the right's notions regarding human nature.

As a parent of two children I was particularly interested in his parenting section, where the argument of "nature VS nurture" is torched. Explanations for how a parent does and doesn't shape their kids are unique, basically he's saying that parents are less significant than the rest of the environment (country, region, city/town) and what the culture that environment provides. While this might appear a "it takes a village" leftist argument, in reality it's just a common sense argument that I see every day as a person who left home to move to a different part of the world and after meeting a girl there; watch as my children grow up here and how different they are from me as a child and are more like other children here. Yet at the same time his use of adoption studies and separated twin studies are at once fascinating and also hard to argue against as he explains how much of us is in the genes and not in that environment.

On crime and IQ he dispels moral notions and poses new ones as he explains our newfound ability to determine a person's pre-disposition to violent or peaceful conflict resolution via brain scans, which he admits should have been expected after the extraordinary 19th century case of Phineas Gage surviving a traumatic brain injury and his behavior change predicted it.

He also tackles race, gender, and many other hot issues.

38 people found this helpful39 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Would highly recommend to anyone that isn't skeptical of behavioral science

May 12, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

One of the most interesting books I've ever read. Is at a decent reading level (I would guess grade 12+), but an interesting read for anyone. It is a little all over the place in the first few chapters, but picks up after that and is extremely insightful. Has completely changed how I perceive the world. Would highly recommend to anyone that isn't skeptical of behavioral science.

21 people found this helpful22 people found this helpful

Science vs Superstition

January 22, 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Important scientific corrective to the current politically correct insanity. And, Pinker's writing is clear and approachable, and sometimes even humorous.

4 people found this helpful5 people found this helpful

A very worthwhile read

May 20, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This took me a while to get into but by the middle part of the book I was quite focused and enjoying it. My most valuable takeaway has been how science research has given support to what is legitimate in philosophies of human nature on the left AND the right. And what's wrong in those philosophies is where we spend most of our time being defensive and non-productive. Good science wins!

9 people found this helpful10 people found this helpful

Fascinating and Illuminating (if a bit verbose)

September 1, 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Mr. Pinker is an exceptional thinker, able to correlate detailed knowledge to reach broad and well supported conclusions. I admire anyone who's work is assailed by each of the far ends of the political spectrum. He is a fine writer, clear and entertaining. To me, his only shortcomings are an occasional tendency to use too many words and a tendency to be overly (although justifiably) proud of his work.

One person found this helpful

An essay rather than a dogma

December 17, 2010

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Mr. Pinker tries to start a reflexion on what makes us what we are.

This book is more a synthesis of his ideas than a scientific work. It gives occasions to question what we believe to be obvious, while it is only the result of the mainstream idea which has been invading the medias and the families for decades : the idea that the human mind is a mere "blank slate" and that, subsequently, all our behaviours, and more generally, our plagues, come from our environment, ie, family, "society" or "culture".

I agree that Mr. Pinker sometimes simplifies his opponents' viewpoints, and he sometimes lacks of nuance and in-depth analysis.

But I don't think he ever pretended to release a scientific work. I think that, first of all, Mr. Pinker wants us to change our references and to be able to accept the very idea of an open debate on the human nature. I personally loved changing my mind on so many topics, or at least finding out that other approaches were possible, where I used to be entrenched in a one-explanation approach.

For instance I used to believe that parenting was the alpha and omega of what makes a person what she/he is. Steven Pinker's book ruined this certainty. I am happy I ceased accusing my parents of all my difficulties in life. This by no means implies that parenting is not a good and important thing. It only gives an opportunity to change glasses about what it means to be a mother or a father.

There are dozens of other fascinating examples of what "the Blank Slate" can bring to the reader.

Maybe this explains the violence behind the debates about human nature.

The book invites us to ask ourselves about our ability to question our certainties with GOOD FAITH, i.e., our ability to admit that facts could invalidate sometiles (but not all the times) our opinions.

Even if we are not forced to follow Mr. Pinker in ALL his developments (I don't say I do), it is still an interesting approach, which brings lots of factual, solid information often ignored by most of us. It is a good start for reflexion, and by no means a dogmatic or "reductionnist" work (I always wonder why this word, "reductionnist" is used by people who precisely reduce the whole human experience to social and familial patterns and reject any other approach).

Some of the reviews here on Amazon.com come from people who visibly have difficulties dealing with FACTS and are really very aggressive (hence my 5 stars, in order to compensate such undue attacks).

When FACTS tend to question our opinions, we have two choices :

1. We admit that we could be wrong and try to start a discussion to redefine our point of view; or

2. We attack the man who states these facts and pretend him to be a stupid / fascist / chauvinist person.

I don't say I always fall in the first category, but I think it is a good way to discuss books like Mr. Pinker's (instead of personal and aggressive attacks, or, worse, commentaries written by people who didn't read the book since they reproach to Mr. Pinker ideas that he never expresses).

It is true that Mr. Pinker sometimes adopts a biased presentation of facts. But the nice thing is that he quotes all his references and exposes every step of his reasoning, which allows a true discussion and an open, honest debate. I really enjoyed very much reading this book.

11 people found this helpful12 people found this helpful

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature

Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway

This item: The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature

Set up a giveaway

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Steven Pinker

513

Hardcover
$19.14
Steven Pinker

790

Paperback
$13.61
Steven Pinker

251

Paperback
$16.20
ZIP Reads

3

Paperback
$6.99
Steven Pinker

115

Paperback
$15.57
Steven Pinker

227

Paperback
$17.09

Pages with related products. See and discover other items: books on modern society, study of nature

English United States

Conditions of Use
Privacy Notice
Interest-Based Ads
© 1996-2018, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates