Can I read The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window Into Human Nature (Penguin Press Science) on EtoBox?

The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window Into Human Nature (Penguin Press Science) by Steven Pinker is a science book available to read on EtoBox.

What is The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window Into Human Nature (Penguin Press Science) about?

From Publishers WeeklyBestselling Harvard psychology professor Pinker (The Blank Slate) investigates what the words we use tell us about the way we think. Language, he concludes, reflects our brain structure, which itself is innate. Similarly, the way we talk about things is rooted in, but not identical to, physical reality: human beings take the analogue flow of sensation the world presents to them and package their experience into objects and events. Examining how we do this, the author summarizes and rejects such linguistic theories as extreme nativism and radical pragmatism as he tosses around terms like content-locative and semantic reconstrual that may seem daunting to general readers. But Pinker, a masterful popularizer, illuminates this specialized material with homely illustrations. The difference between drinking from a glass of beer and drinking a glass of beer, for example, shows that the mind has the power to frame a single situation in very different ways. Separate chapters explore concepts of causality, naming, swearing and politeness as the tools with which we organize the flow of raw information. Metaphor in particular, he asserts, helps us entertain new ideas and

Who reads The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window Into Human Nature (Penguin Press Science)?

Author

Steven Pinker

Publisher

Penguin Group US

Published

2008

Language

EN

ISBN

9780143114246

Category

science

Subjects

Psychology, Language Learning, Literary Fiction

Rating

3.75 / 5 (4 ratings)

Updated

2026-03-24