The Tabula Rasa and Its Critics

1. In The Blank Slate, Steven Pinker examines the idea of the Tabula Rasa and its critics, which asserts that the mind is a blank slate at birth, and that all knowledge and behavior is acquired through experience. 2. Pinker argues that the critics of the Tabula Rasa have it wrong, and that there is evidence that the mind is pre-programmed with certain capacities and tendencies when it is born. 3. He further argues that this does not mean that the environment and experience are irrelevant, only that they interact with innate tendencies to produce behavior and knowledge. 4. Pinker also addresses the implications of this view for moral responsibility and the idea of free will. 5. He ultimately suggests that if innate tendencies are responsible for much of our behavior, then we must accept that some of our behavior is determined by forces beyond our control.