Originally published: New York : Viking Penguin ; London : Allen Lane, 2002

Includes bibliographical references (pages 461-489) and index

pt. 1. The blank slate, the noble savage, and the ghost in the machine. The official theory -- Silly putty -- The last wall to fall -- Culture vultures -- The slate's last stand -- pt. 2. Fear and loathing. Political scientists -- The holy trinity -- pt. 3. Human nature with a human face. The fear of inequality -- The fear of imperfectibility -- The fear of determinism -- The fear of nihilism -- pt. 4. Know thyself. In touch with reality -- Out of our depths -- The many roots of our suffering -- The sanctimonious animal -- pt. 5. Hot buttons. Politics -- Violence -- Gender -- Children -- The arts -- pt. 6. The voice of the species -- Appendix: Donald E. Brown's list of human universals

"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