The Blank Slate

by Steven Pinker

Front Matter

PART I The Blank Slate, the Noble Savage, and the Ghost in the Machine~4 min

Chapter 1 The Official Theory~14 min

Chapter 2 Silly Putty~26 min

Chapter 3 The Last Wall to Fall~55 min

Chapter 4 Culture Vultures~27 min

Chapter 5 The Slate’s Last Stand~57 min

PART II Fear and Loathing~2 min

Chapter 6 Political Scientists~27 min

Chapter 7 The Holy Trinity~26 min

PART III Human Nature with a Human Face~5 min

Chapter 8 The Fear of Inequality~34 min

Chapter 9 The Fear of Imperfectibility~26 min

Chapter 10 The Fear of Determinism~23 min

Chapter 11 The Fear of Nihilism~14 min

PART IV Know Thyself~1 min

Chapter 12 In Touch with Reality~40 min

Chapter 13 Out of Our Depths~42 min

Chapter 14 The Many Roots of Our Suffering~53 min

Chapter 15 The Sanctimonious Animal~21 min

PART V Hot Buttons~2 min

Chapter 16 Politics~42 min

Chapter 17 Violence~58 min

Chapter 18 Gender~67 min

Chapter 19 Children~55 min

Chapter 20 The Arts~37 min

PART VI The Voice of the Species~24 min

AFTERWORD TO THE 2016 EDITION~33 min

APPENDIX : Donald E. Brown’s List of Human Universals~5 min

NOTES~29 min

REFERENCES~70 min

INDEX~14 min