Pseudo's corner

Your article on Steven Pinker and his latest book appears somewhat in thrall to his popular status ("Reality check", October 12). Taking his opinion as fact is a disservice to what is a set of contested debates - for example, by repeating the author's claim that the "'lexical libertines' of the 1960s who believed that more openness about sex would lead to less illegitimacy and fewer sexually transmitted diseases have been proved utterly wrong".

By whom? George Bush's religious Right? We should embrace a world where different views on sexual morality are hotly argued, but not fall into the trap of espousing pseudo-scientific opinion as social policy. The resurgence of evolutionary paradigms (of which Pinker is a leading saint) represents a cultural, conceptual and political shift, not the new dawn of truth.

Sally R. Munt, Professor of media and cultural studies, Sussex University.