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Budding Philosopher
After receiving a B.A. in philosophy from Harvard, Dennett pursued his doctorate at Oxford. His doctoral thesis regarding consciousness became his first book, "Content And Consciousness", in 1969. While at Oxford, he studied under Gilbert Ryle (leading figure in Oxford Philosophy). After completing his doctorate, he returned to the United States to teach at University Of California, Irvine. -
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Professor Of Philosophy
Dennett moved to Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts and became the director of the Center Of Cognitive Studies in 1985. He has given several well-known lectures at Tufts, as well as TED talks. One of my favorites is his discussion on "dangerous ideas" where he argues that our worlds and religious ideas are evolutionary functions of the brain (https://youtu.be/v9dZeJ3owGg). -
Involvement With MIT
Dennett worked with a team from Massachusetts Institute Of Technology on a project to construct an intelligent (potentially conscious) robot called Cog. This project is still on-going, and constantly developing. -
Breaking The Spell
While being referred to one of the Four Horsemen Of Atheism (along side Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens), Dennett discussed the idea of religion being a natural phenomena. He wrote his book "Breaking The Spell" as well as a broadcasted debate about God and atheism with the other "horsemen".
There are two parts to this discussion, but it is an interesting watch! https://youtu.be/9DKhc1pcDFM