The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature (Viking, 2002)

Steven Pinker · c. 2002

Steven Pinker did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this book, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The book prints chapter headings its extracted text does not preserve, so the claims below are in the book's order but not grouped. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
Acknowledging human nature does not mean overturning personal world views

Their wordsAcknowledging human nature does not mean overturning our personal world views
Our reading
Denying human nature has split intellectual life from common sense

Their wordsThe denial of human nature has spread beyond the academy and has led to a disconnect between intellectual life and common sense.
Our reading
The Blank Slate has become the secular religion of modern intellectual life

Their wordsthe Blank Slate has become the secular religion of modern intellectual life.
Our reading
Equality is a moral principle about individuals, not a claim that groups are interchangeable

Their wordsequality is not the empirical claim that all groups of humans are interchangeable; it is the moral principle that individuals should not be judged or constrained by the average properties of their group.
Our reading
Feminism as a movement for equity matters; feminism as an academic clique with eccentric doctrines about human nature does not

Their wordsFeminism as a movement for political and social equity is important, but feminism as an academic clique committed to eccentric doctrines about human nature is not
Our reading
With violence, human nature is both the problem and the solution

Their wordsWith violence, as with so many other concerns, human nature is the problem, but human nature is also the solution.
Our reading
Our theory of human nature shapes much of how we live

Their wordsOur theory of human nature is the wellspring of much in our lives.
Our reading
The arts and humanities cannot do without an understanding of how the mind works

Their wordsA good grasp of how the mind works is indispensable to the arts and humanities for at least two reasons.
Our reading
Refusing to acknowledge human nature distorts science, public discourse and daily life

Their wordsThe refusal to acknowledge human nature is like the Victorians' embarrassment about sex, only worse: it distorts our science and scholarship, our public discourse, and our day-to-day lives.

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