The Scientist of the Soul
April 19, 2024 3:29 PM Subscribe
The materialist world view is often associated with despair. In “Anna Karenina,” Konstantin Levin, the novel’s hero, stares into the night sky, reflects upon his brief, bubblelike existence in an infinite and indifferent universe, and contemplates suicide. For Dennett, however, materialism is spiritually satisfying. [...] “Darwin’s dangerous idea,” Dennett writes, is that Bach’s music, Christianity, human culture, the human mind, and Homo sapiens “all exist as fruits of a single tree, the Tree of Life,” which “created itself, not in a miraculous, instantaneous whoosh, but slowly, slowly.” He asks, “Is this Tree of Life a God one could worship? Pray to? Fear? Probably not.” But, he says, it is “greater than anything any of us will ever conceive of in detail worthy of its detail. . . . I could not pray to it, but I can stand in affirmation of its magnificence. This world is sacred.”Daniel C. Dennett, Widely Read and Fiercely Debated Philosopher, Dies at 82
Notable quotes from Dennett's writings on Goodreads:
“If you can approach the world's complexities, both its glories and its horrors, with an attitude of humble curiosity, acknowledging that however deeply you have seen, you have only scratched the surface, you will find worlds within worlds, beauties you could not heretofore imagine, and your own mundane preoccupations will shrink to proper size, not all that important in the greater scheme of things. Keeping that awestruck vision of the world ready to hand while dealing with the demands of daily living is no easy exercise, but it is definitely worth the effort, for if you can stay centered , and engaged , you will find the hard choices easier, the right words will come to you when you need them, and you will indeed be a better person. That, I propose, is the secret to spirituality, and it has nothing at all to do with believing in an immortal soul.”Wiki's summary of his scientific and philosophical views
Copies of Dennett's most noteworthy works online:
"Where Am I?" (1981): "The difficulty that brought the Pentagon to my door was that the device I’d been asked to recover was fiercely radioactive, in a new way. According to monitoring instruments, something about the nature of the device and its complex interactions with pockets of material deep in the earth had produced radiation that could cause severe abnormalities in certain tissues of the brain. No way had been found to shield the brain from these deadly rays, which were apparently harmless to other tissues and organs of the body. So it had been decided that the person sent to recover the device should leave his brain behind." [Previously on MeFi]
Consciousness Explained (1991) [wiki] - "Dennett describes consciousness as an account of the various calculations occurring in the brain at close to the same time. He compares consciousness to an academic paper that is being developed or edited in the hands of multiple people at one time, the "multiple drafts" theory of consciousness. In this analogy, "the paper" exists even though there is no single, unified paper. When people report on their inner experiences, Dennett considers their reports to be more like theorizing than like describing. These reports may be informative, he says, but a psychologist is not to take them at face value. Dennett describes several phenomena that show that perception is more limited and less reliable than we perceive it to be."
Darwin's Dangerous Idea (1995) [wiki] - "The crux of the argument is that, whether or not Darwin's theories are overturned, there is no going back from the dangerous idea that design (purpose or what something is for) might not need a designer. Dennett makes this case on the basis that natural selection is a blind process, which is nevertheless sufficiently powerful to explain the evolution of life. Darwin's discovery was that the generation of life worked algorithmically, that processes behind it work in such a way that given these processes the results that they tend toward must be so."
The Intentional Stance (1996) [wiki] - "The intentional stance is a term coined by philosopher Daniel Dennett for the level of abstraction in which we view the behavior of an entity in terms of mental properties. It is part of a theory of mental content proposed by Dennett, which provides the underpinnings of his later works on free will, consciousness, folk psychology, and evolution."
Kinds of Minds: Toward an Understanding of Consciousness (1996) - "Nobody ever takes solipsism seriously for long, as far as we know, but it does raise an important challenge: if we know that solipsism is silly--if we know that there are other minds--how do we know? What kinds of minds are there? And how do we know? The first question is about what exists--about ontology, in philosophical parlance; the second question is about our knowledge--about epistemology. The goal of this book is not to answer these two questions once and for all, but rather to show why these questions have to be answered together."
Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon (2006) [wiki] - "In which the author argues that religion is in need of scientific analysis so that its nature and future may be better understood. The "spell" that requires "breaking" is not religious belief itself but the belief that it is off-limits to or beyond scientific inquiry." [Dennett's video lecture on the book; Previously on MeFi]
Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking (2013) - "Alongside well-known favorites like Occam’s Razor and reductio ad absurdum lie thrilling descriptions of Dennett’s own creations: Trapped in the Robot Control Room, Beware of the Prime Mammal, and The Wandering Two-Bitser. Ranging across disciplines as diverse as psychology, biology, computer science, and physics, Dennett’s tools embrace in equal measure light-heartedness and accessibility as they welcome uninitiated and seasoned listeners alike. As always, his goal remains to teach you how to “think reliably and even gracefully about really hard questions.”"
From Bacteria to Bach and Back (2017) [wiki] - "Dennett explains that a crucial shift occurred when humans developed the ability to share memes, or ways of doing things not based in genetic instinct. Language, itself composed of memes, turbocharged this interplay. Competition among memes―a form of natural selection―produced thinking tools so well-designed that they gave us the power to design our own memes. The result, a mind that not only perceives and controls but can create and comprehend, was thus largely shaped by the process of cultural evolution." [Dennett's video lecture on the book]
I've Been Thinking (2023) - "Dennett’s answers have profoundly shaped our age of philosophical thought. In I’ve Been Thinking, he reflects on his amazing career and lifelong scientific fascinations. [...] Key to this journey are Dennett’s interlocutors―Douglas Hofstadter, Marvin Minsky, Willard Van Orman Quine, Gilbert Ryle, Richard Rorty, Thomas Nagel, John Searle, Gerald Edelman, Stephen Jay Gould, Jerry Fodor, Rodney Brooks, and more―whose ideas, even when he disagreed with them, helped to form his convictions about the mind and consciousness. Studded with photographs and told with characteristic warmth, I’ve Been Thinking also instills the value of life beyond the university, one enriched by sculpture, music, farming, and deep connection to family."
Thank you Rhaomi for yet another wonderful post among so many that you continue to post lately. I would rather learn of this news from mefi than from anywhere else, sad though it is ...
posted by clandestiny's child at 3:54 PM on April 19 [5 favorites]
posted by clandestiny's child at 3:54 PM on April 19 [5 favorites]
I read a lot of his shorter work as a young philosophy student in the late 80s, and when "Consciousness Explained" came out, I thought "there's a title full of hubris, right there"
posted by Gorgik at 3:54 PM on April 19 [5 favorites]
posted by Gorgik at 3:54 PM on April 19 [5 favorites]
.
posted by LobsterMitten at 4:23 PM on April 19
posted by LobsterMitten at 4:23 PM on April 19
i hadn’t thought about Dennett in years until earlier this week when i saw that he was in a 90-minute video conversation with everyone’s least favorite reactionary Canadian pop psychologist.
Still, .
posted by supercres at 4:24 PM on April 19
Still, .
posted by supercres at 4:24 PM on April 19
Wow. What a thinker--enjoyable as much for the depth of his thought as his prickliness with everyone who disagreed with him (and there were so many people who disagreed with him, and the arguments were always enlightening and usually pretty fun). Darwin's Dangerous Idea was formative for me, and I wish I'd read Consciousness Explained a decade before I actually got to it.
posted by mittens at 4:24 PM on April 19 [4 favorites]
posted by mittens at 4:24 PM on April 19 [4 favorites]
Dennett was intensely influential to me on a philosophical level during my formative years, particularly with The Mind's I, the book he co-edited with Douglas R. Hofstadter.
posted by xigxag at 4:36 PM on April 19 [6 favorites]
posted by xigxag at 4:36 PM on April 19 [6 favorites]
I just recommended Darwin's Dangerous Idea to someone today. Audibly howled upon coming to the end of the post, as I didn't see the gut-punch(line) coming. Yet I, too, "would rather learn of this news from mefi than from anywhere else, sad though it is ..."
.
And then there were Two.
I secured tickets just this morning to see Dawkins many months from now.
posted by TigerMoth at 4:41 PM on April 19
.
And then there were Two.
I secured tickets just this morning to see Dawkins many months from now.
posted by TigerMoth at 4:41 PM on April 19
Oh wow, he was a giant.
enjoyable as much for the depth of his thought as his prickliness with everyone who disagreed with him
I studied Philosophy at NYU in the early aughts, so Ned Block was the big name there at the time. I remember that in his classes (I'm pretty sure this came up more than once) he had to excuse himself and let his TAs teach the classes that would cover Dennett, such was the depth of their lifelong disagreement. Maybe you had to be there, but this was definitely a sign of respect as much as anything.
.
posted by Navelgazer at 4:59 PM on April 19 [7 favorites]
enjoyable as much for the depth of his thought as his prickliness with everyone who disagreed with him
I studied Philosophy at NYU in the early aughts, so Ned Block was the big name there at the time. I remember that in his classes (I'm pretty sure this came up more than once) he had to excuse himself and let his TAs teach the classes that would cover Dennett, such was the depth of their lifelong disagreement. Maybe you had to be there, but this was definitely a sign of respect as much as anything.
.
posted by Navelgazer at 4:59 PM on April 19 [7 favorites]
I don't think Dennett was a very serious philosopher. He made bold statements in public and then retreated from them in academic spaces.
He once claimed David Chalmers invented the concept of "philosophical zombies" in order to get publicity in the popular media rather than taking philosophy seriously. I think that was sour grapes that his incoherent version of "eliminativism" didn't work quite as well towards the same end.
He never embraced racism, Islamophobia, or tried to justify war or the use of torture, which puts him miles above Harris, Dawkins, and Hitchens.
posted by The Manwich Horror at 5:07 PM on April 19 [16 favorites]
He once claimed David Chalmers invented the concept of "philosophical zombies" in order to get publicity in the popular media rather than taking philosophy seriously. I think that was sour grapes that his incoherent version of "eliminativism" didn't work quite as well towards the same end.
He never embraced racism, Islamophobia, or tried to justify war or the use of torture, which puts him miles above Harris, Dawkins, and Hitchens.
posted by The Manwich Horror at 5:07 PM on April 19 [16 favorites]
It’s been a long time since I read Consciousness Explained, I need to read it again, it was a life changing book.
.
posted by teece303 at 5:08 PM on April 19
.
posted by teece303 at 5:08 PM on April 19
He once claimed David Chalmers invented the concept of "philosophical zombies" in order to get publicity in the popular media rather than taking philosophy seriously.
Where? That might make for some enjoyable reading.
posted by mittens at 5:22 PM on April 19
Where? That might make for some enjoyable reading.
posted by mittens at 5:22 PM on April 19
I know one or two working academic philosophers who might not necessarily agree with Dennett, but certainly take him seriously. I had the pleasure of seeing him speak once to an audience of cognitive scientists and neuroscientists: he was more nuanced than his popular works, and while his work was not flawless, it was good work and well presented.
I think he was an important philosopher and a powerful advocate for a materialist, humanist worldview that is open to the experience of awe at the majesty of our universe and our place within it. He was not a perfect person, philosopher, or public intellectual. No one is. But he was a strong and consistent voice who, unlike some other public figures that the media chose to lump him with, did not, to my knowledge at least, ever betray his avowed humanist values in the interest of small-minded bigotry. I respect him for that, and admire the work he chose for his life.
posted by biogeo at 5:40 PM on April 19 [7 favorites]
I think he was an important philosopher and a powerful advocate for a materialist, humanist worldview that is open to the experience of awe at the majesty of our universe and our place within it. He was not a perfect person, philosopher, or public intellectual. No one is. But he was a strong and consistent voice who, unlike some other public figures that the media chose to lump him with, did not, to my knowledge at least, ever betray his avowed humanist values in the interest of small-minded bigotry. I respect him for that, and admire the work he chose for his life.
posted by biogeo at 5:40 PM on April 19 [7 favorites]
Where? That might make for some enjoyable reading.
I'm sorry, I don't remember. It has been a long time since I did my reading on these two. It just stuck in my memory as a revealing accusation.
posted by The Manwich Horror at 5:49 PM on April 19
I'm sorry, I don't remember. It has been a long time since I did my reading on these two. It just stuck in my memory as a revealing accusation.
posted by The Manwich Horror at 5:49 PM on April 19
fuck. the man was a giant. I respectfully disagree that he wasn't a serious philosopher; his popular writing was probably one of the more serious attempts in the late 20th century at making Hard Questions palatable to smart lay readers who were willing to work. No mean feat, and the range he straddled was broad and his answers profound.
Here's to Humble Awe At The Universe, Daniel. You can't hear me now, but you've been heard.
.
posted by lalochezia at 6:32 PM on April 19 [7 favorites]
Here's to Humble Awe At The Universe, Daniel. You can't hear me now, but you've been heard.
.
posted by lalochezia at 6:32 PM on April 19 [7 favorites]
On the subject of consciousness, Daniel Dennett often debated with his principal antagonist, mathematician David Chalmers, who liked to refer to Dennett's book 'Consciousness Explained' as 'Consciousness Explained Away'.
There's more here.
posted by little eiffel at 7:05 PM on April 19 [3 favorites]
There's more here.
posted by little eiffel at 7:05 PM on April 19 [3 favorites]
.
posted by brambleboy at 8:14 PM on April 19
posted by brambleboy at 8:14 PM on April 19
Dennett's intentional stance was an original piece of philosophy, and almost everything he wrote flowed from it at least in part.
I disagreed most strongly with his pan-adaptationism, meme-theory, and qualia-eliminativism, but I was almost always stimulated by his writings to sharpen my own views.
He never embraced racism, Islamophobia, or tried to justify war or the use of torture, which puts him miles above Harris, Dawkins, and Hitchens.
Yep. RIP.
posted by airing nerdy laundry at 8:27 PM on April 19 [6 favorites]
I disagreed most strongly with his pan-adaptationism, meme-theory, and qualia-eliminativism, but I was almost always stimulated by his writings to sharpen my own views.
He never embraced racism, Islamophobia, or tried to justify war or the use of torture, which puts him miles above Harris, Dawkins, and Hitchens.
Yep. RIP.
posted by airing nerdy laundry at 8:27 PM on April 19 [6 favorites]
.
posted by cotton dress sock at 9:58 PM on April 19
posted by cotton dress sock at 9:58 PM on April 19
.
posted by 20 year lurk at 10:21 PM on April 19
posted by 20 year lurk at 10:21 PM on April 19
.
posted by quazichimp at 10:27 PM on April 19
posted by quazichimp at 10:27 PM on April 19
I feel his passing aptly marks the end of an era in which consciousness was very actively discussed and people really thought we might have the answers soon. That optimism hasn’t lasted and the debate has quietened.
posted by Phanx at 11:10 PM on April 19 [4 favorites]
posted by Phanx at 11:10 PM on April 19 [4 favorites]
Can anyone explain what Dr Dennets' concept of Cartesian Theatre is ?
posted by Narrative_Historian at 2:17 AM on April 20
posted by Narrative_Historian at 2:17 AM on April 20
.
posted by oozy rat in a sanitary zoo at 6:46 AM on April 20
posted by oozy rat in a sanitary zoo at 6:46 AM on April 20
From memory I believe the ‘Cartesian Theatre’ is a supposed place in the brain where all the sensory data come together in a sort of dramatic presentation of the external world, which some central controller (or homunculus) then observes and makes decisions about. Dennett coined the term to mock the idea, which he (reasonably enough) considered a fundamental mistake.
posted by Phanx at 7:03 AM on April 20 [5 favorites]
posted by Phanx at 7:03 AM on April 20 [5 favorites]
Can't overstate the extent to which this man and his work changed the course of my life, and my relief that he didn't join many of his friends in becoming a "heterodox" embarrassment in the last few years. I was once invited to attend a party I knew he was going to, and it's one of my biggest regrets in life that I didn't pull out all the stops to make it happen so I could meet him.
posted by potrzebie at 10:58 AM on April 20 [1 favorite]
posted by potrzebie at 10:58 AM on April 20 [1 favorite]
Got him mixed up with Jaynes and his:
"The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Origin_of_Consciousness_in_the_Breakdown_of_the_Bicameral_Mind
The page claims he was a influence on Dennett so there's that.
posted by aleph at 12:15 PM on April 20
"The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Origin_of_Consciousness_in_the_Breakdown_of_the_Bicameral_Mind
The page claims he was a influence on Dennett so there's that.
posted by aleph at 12:15 PM on April 20
I only ever read Where Am I. That was about 40 years ago, and I still remember it, and enjoy remembering it. Sorry to see him go.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 3:43 PM on April 20
posted by Winnie the Proust at 3:43 PM on April 20
.
posted by doctornemo at 6:59 PM on April 20
posted by doctornemo at 6:59 PM on April 20
.
He was a huge influence on my thinking when I was at college and fascinated by consciousness
posted by crocomancer at 9:50 AM on April 21
He was a huge influence on my thinking when I was at college and fascinated by consciousness
posted by crocomancer at 9:50 AM on April 21
I was just thinking about his discussion on spandrels in DDI two days ago and lamenting that somewhere over the last several moves I lost the best bathroom reading ever (save Borges' Collected Fictions). And here I'm reunited with the PDF... yet on such an inauspicious occasion.
I might not have agreed with *all* of his thinking but I'd credit the newspaper review in the Times of London about his "skyhooks" in 1995 while traveling from the US that inculcated me to indulging in expansive thinking and the quality of newspapers in the UK.
Unfortunately, I'll probably forget about Tufts University now too.
posted by DeepSeaHaggis at 11:16 PM on April 21
I might not have agreed with *all* of his thinking but I'd credit the newspaper review in the Times of London about his "skyhooks" in 1995 while traveling from the US that inculcated me to indulging in expansive thinking and the quality of newspapers in the UK.
Unfortunately, I'll probably forget about Tufts University now too.
posted by DeepSeaHaggis at 11:16 PM on April 21
Here's hoping he's buried (about a mile underground) in Tulsa. In all cases, I'll always think of him (thinking of himselves) when in Houston.
posted by TigerMoth at 12:52 PM on April 22 [1 favorite]
posted by TigerMoth at 12:52 PM on April 22 [1 favorite]
« Older See also Arkell v. Pressdram | Revolution in Tennessee Newer »
Having known of / followed him for several years, I got up the courage to go shake his hand and thank him for being an inspiration as things were winding down and he was most gracious and friendly. I am now so very glad that I did, he has been a bit of a hero of mine and this is just another reminder that we should not postpone such things.
R.I.P my man ... and if your beliefs should turn out to be true as far as all things God / afterlife is concerned, well you and your thoughts + writings will be living on for decades to come and beyond anyhow. : )
posted by clandestiny's child at 3:51 PM on April 19 [11 favorites]