How the Mind Works

How the Mind Works (ISBN 0-393-31848-6) is a book by American cognitive scientist Steven Pinker, published in 1997.

The book attempts to explain some of the human mind's poorly understood functions and quirks in evolutionary terms. Drawing heavily on the paradigm of evolutionary psychology first articulated by John Tooby and Leda Cosmides, Pinker covers subjects as diverse as vision, emotion, feminism, and, in the final chapter, "the meaning of life."