Daniel Dennett

by Thompson, David L.

• ISBN13: 9781847060082
• ISBN10: 1847060080
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-08-15
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

Daniel Dennett is one of America's most important and influential contemporary philosophers. He has made considerable contributions to the philosophy of mind and to evolutionary thought.

Author Biography

David L. Thompson is Professor of Philosophy (retired) at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada. His previous publications include Dennett's Philosophy: A Comprehensive Assessment (edited with Don Ross and Andrew Brook, MIT Press, 2000).

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Abbreviations	p. xi
The Project of Naturalism	p. 1
Daniel Dennett	p. 1
Historical Context of Naturalism	p. 2
Dennett and Contemporary Thought	p. 5
Outline	p. 7
What Consciousness is Not: The Critique of Cartesianism	p. 10
Cartesian Dualism	p. 11
Heterophenomenology	p. 14
The Cartesian Theater	p. 18
The Absence of Real Presence	p. 25
No Real Seeming	p. 29
What Consciousness is: The Multiple Drafts Model	p. 34
Function	p. 34
Context	p. 36
Multiple Drafts Model	p. 46
Language	p. 50
The Stream of Consciousness	p. 52
Is Consciousness an Illusion?	p. 54
Evolution: Getting Here from There	p. 58
Darwin's Theory of Evolution	p. 58
The Adaptationist Algorithm	p. 60
Explaining by Contingency	p. 66
Human Nature	p. 67
Reductionism	p. 76
Selfhood: Memes, Language, and Narrative	p. 78
Early Selves	p. 79
Human Selves	p. 80
Narrative Selfhood	p. 82
Status of the Self	p. 87
Ontology: Stances, Patterns, and Realism	p. 89
Stances	p. 90
Reality of Beliefs	p. 92
Patterns	p. 98
Semantic Causality	p. 101
Realism	p. 103
Freedom: What is Worth Having?	p. 106
Free Will	p. 107
Self-Control	p. 108
Freedom Worth Having	p. 115
Evolution of Freedom	p. 118
Ethics and Religion: Evolution and Beyond	p. 121
Ethics	p. 122
Heuristics	p. 122
Evolution of Ethics	p. 123
Creation of New Values	p. 127
Summary So Far	p. 130
Religion	p. 131
Study of Religion	p. 131
Evolution of Religion	p. 134
Institutional Religion	p. 138
Evaluation of Religion	p. 141
What to Do?	p. 144
Conclusion: Synthesis and Critical Assessment	p. 147
Central Themes	p. 147
Critical Assessment	p. 151
Method	p. 151
Science	p. 152
Realism	p. 153
Interpretation	p. 154
Bibliography	p. 158
Index	p. 161
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