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Birth
Born in Boston, Massachusetts Daniel Dennett was an American Philosopher specializing in the philosophy of the mind. He was also a a New Atheist and is considered one of the "Four Horsemen" of New Atheism. -
Education
Received his B.A. in philosophy from Harvard and the pursued graduate study at Oxford. Under the tutelage of Gilbert Ryle, Dennett became interested in the nature of consciousness and wrote his doctoral thesis on the topic. He received his Doctorate in 1965 and returned to America to teach and the University of California Irvine. He then went on to teach at the University of Tufts where he became the University Professor and director of the Universities Center of Cognitive Studies in 1985. -
Consciousness Explained
Dennett's views on consciousness (Multilpe Drafts model) are how he philosophically views the world in every aspect of life. The Multiple Drafts model makes [the procedure of] "writing it down" in memory criterial for consciousness: that is what it is for the "given" to be "taken" ... There is no reality of conscious experience independent of the effects of various vehicles of content on subsequent action (and hence, of course, on memory) (1991) -
Consciousness Explained Cont.
Dennett's view on the brain is a very confusing subject as he believes we hold on to a few ingrained details of the world and that is the only reason that we function at all. Without these sentient "thoughts" our brain would not know how to precieve the world and therefore we would not have a consciousness at all. With this claim he explains how we have free will and that while it is free it is constrained by these dormant details. -
Darwin's Dangerous Idea
Dennett's won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction with his book "Darwin's Dangerous Idea". As previously stated Dennett was a strong Atheist which then developed, in 2006, to New Atheism. He does not believe that anything has a creator and that natural selection is adequately random enough to explain all evolution of the human brain. He believes that many of his other eminent contemporaries are claiming miracles can happen but that contradicts with his beliefs in "higher intelligence" -
Current Time
Dennett's is currently the co-director of the Center for Cognitive studies and the Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosphy at Tufts University. He is still creating academic works in cross-disciplinary science and is still being awarded for his cultural significance in recent times. Dennett has moved the world with his ability to translate cultural significance of science and technology to a broad audience. -
Sources and Video
Encyclopedia Britannica, T. E. of. (n.d.). Daniel C. Dennett. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved March 13, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Daniel-C-Dennett Dennett, D. C. Consciousness Explained. Little, Brown and Co., 1991. Again my favorite place to get my information in video form, crash course. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SJROTXnmus