The Blank Slate

The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature is a 2002 book (published by Penguin Putnam , ISBN 0670031518) by Steven Pinker arguing against tabula rasa models of psychology, claiming that the human mind is shaped by evolutionary psychological adaptations. Pinker mostly presents historical evidence for his claim.

Reviews of the book have been mixed. Steven Johnson praised the book in a review in The Nation, arguing that Pinker's Darwinian theory of the mind is not intrinsically conservative. Skeptic Magazine has a more critical review of the book.

The book and the reviews linked to below approach the definition of various terms differently, as for example the book and most of the reviews do not deny the existence of free will yet a reading of the book or of the reviews shows that the authors have differing interpretations how much free will factors into people's decisions and human behavior and how it does so.

Related Topics

• Evolutionary psychology
• Imprinting
• Sociobiology
• Nature versus nurture

External links

• Steven Johnson (2002) "Sociobiology and You", a positive review in the October 31 issue of The Nation.
• Vol. 11 #2 2004 of the Skeptic Magazine contains a critical review of the book.
• Meet the Flintstones by Simon Blackburn, a critical review of The Blank Slate
• [1] - Newcastle University debate on The Blank Slate.