Daniel Dennett

Daniel Dennett
Dennett in 2012
Born
Daniel Clement Dennett III

(1942-03-28)March 28, 1942
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedApril 19, 2024(2024-04-19) (aged 82)
Portland, Maine, U.S.
Education
Notable work
Spouse
Susan Bell
​
(m. 1962)​
Awards
Era20th, 21st-century philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
School
InstitutionsTufts University
ThesisThe Mind and the Brain (1965)
Doctoral advisorGilbert Ryle
Main interests
Notable ideas
Heterophenomenology
Intentional stance
Intuition pump
Multiple drafts model
Greedy reductionism
Cartesian theater
Belief in belief
Real patterns
Free-floating rationale[6]
Top-down vs bottom-up design[7]
Cassette theory of dreams[8]
Alternative neurosurgery[9]
Sphexishness
Brainstorm machine[10]
Deepity[11]
Signature

Daniel Clement Dennett III (March 28, 1942 – April 19, 2024) was an American philosopher and cognitive scientist. His research centered on the philosophy of mind, the philosophy of science, and the philosophy of biology, particularly as those fields relate to evolutionary biology and cognitive science.[12]

Dennett is widely regarded as a proponent of materialism in the philosophy of mind.[3][4] He argues that mental states, including consciousness, are entirely the result of physical processes in the brain. In his book Consciousness Explained (1991), Dennett presents his arguments for a materialist understanding of consciousness, rejecting Cartesian dualism in favor of a physicalist perspective.[13]

Dennett was the co-director of the Center for Cognitive Studies and the Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University in Massachusetts.[14] Dennett was a member of the editorial board for The Rutherford Journal[15] and a co-founder of The Clergy Project.[16]

A vocal atheist and secularist, Dennett has been described as "one of the most widely read and debated American philosophers".[17] He was referred to as one of the "Four Horsemen" of New Atheism, along with Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens.

  1. ^ a b Taylor, James E. "The New Atheists". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
  2. ^ "Eliminative Materialism". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Archived from the original on April 20, 2024. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Brook, Andrew. "Daniel Dennett's Philosophy of Mind". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2018 ed.).
  4. ^ a b Honderich, Ted, ed. (2005). The Oxford Companion to Philosophy (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 208–209.
  5. ^ Dahlbom, Bo. "Daniel Dennett". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  6. ^ Witzthum, Harry (2018). Reasoning Across Domains: An Essay in Evolutionary Psychology. Peter Lang. ISBN 978-3039109784.
  7. ^ "Cognitive Science as Reverse Engineering". pp.kpnet.fi. Archived from the original on January 16, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  8. ^ Windt, Jennifer M. (2018). "Dreams and Dreaming". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. Archived from the original on April 20, 2024.
  9. ^ "Quining Qualia". ase.tufts.edu. March 28, 2023. Archived from the original on January 2, 2019. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  10. ^ Dennet, Daniel (1997). "Quining Qualia". In Ned Block (ed.). The Nature of Consciousness. Cambridge: MIT Press. p. 623. ISBN 0-262-52210-1
  11. ^ "This column will change your life: Deepities". TheGuardian.com. May 25, 2013. Archived from the original on November 16, 2018. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
  12. ^ Beardsley, T. (1996) Profile: Daniel C. Dennett – Dennett's Dangerous Idea, Scientific American 274(2), 34–35.
  13. ^ Dennett, Daniel C. (1991). Consciousness Explained. Boston: Little, Brown and Co. ISBN 978-0316180665.
  14. ^ Rafael Yuste; Michael Levin (June 21, 2024). "Daniel C. Dennett (1942—2024)". Science (in French). 384 (6702): 1305–1305. doi:10.1126/SCIENCE.ADQ5873. ISSN 0036-8075. Wikidata Q126881738.
  15. ^ "Editorial board". The Rutherford Journal. Archived from the original on July 27, 2011. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
  16. ^ "The Story of The Clergy Project". The Clergy Project. November 11, 2014. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
  17. ^ Kandell, Jonathan (April 19, 2024). "Daniel C. Dennett, Widely Read and Fiercely Debated Philosopher, Dies at 82". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on April 19, 2024. Retrieved April 19, 2024.