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Date of Birth
Born in Boston, Massachusetts. -
Education
He graduated from Philips Exeter Academy. -
Marriage
He married his wife Susan Bell. They lived in North Andover, Massachusetts, and had a daughter, a son, and six grandchildren. -
Education
He spent one year at Wesleyan University before receiving his BA degree in Philosophy at Harvard University. -
Education
Dennett received his DPhil in philosophy at the University of Oxford, where he studied under Gilbert Ryle.
He was a member of Hertford College. -
The Mind and the Brain
Dennett wrote his dissertation that was entitled The Mind and the Brain: Introspective Description in the Light of Neurological Findings; Intentionality. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:26d813f7-6a94-4bb6-b34e-d06743d607e9 -
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Teaching Years
Dennett taught at the University of California, Irvine, before he moved to Tufts University. He proceeded to teach at Tufts University for many decades aside from the periods visiting Harvard, Pittsburgh, Oxford, the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris, the London School of Economics, and the University of Beirut. -
Intentional Stance
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 -
Brainstorms
He was a confirmed compatibilist on free will, in "On Giving Libertarians What They Say They Want"—chapter 15 of his 1978 book Brainstorms[25]—Dennett articulated the case for a two-stage model of decision making in contrast to libertarian views. -
Elbow Room
Daniel Dennett makes a case for compatibilism. His aim, as he writes in the preface to this new edition, was a cleanup job, “saving everything that mattered about the everyday concept of free will, while jettisoning the impediments.” -
Co-founder/ Co-director
He was the Co-founder and Co-director of the Curricular Software Studio at Tufts, and has helped to design museum exhibits on computers for the Smithsonian Institution, the Museum of Science in Boston, and the Computer Museum in Boston. -
Consciousness Explained
Dennett offered an account of how consciousness arises from the interaction of physical and cognitive processes in the brain. He 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. -
Darwin's Dangerous Idea
He looked at some of the repercussions of Darwinian theory. 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. -
Kinds of Minds
Combined ideas from philosophy, artificial intelligence, and neurobiology, Daniel Dennett leads the reader on a fascinating journey of inquiry, exploring such intriguing possibilities Can any of us really know what is going on in someone else's mind? -
Jean Nicod Prize
Awarded annually in Paris to a leading philosopher of mind or philosophically oriented cognitive scientist. Dennett was awarded this award for his book Sweet Dreams: Philosophical Obstacles to a Science of Consciousness. -
Freedom Evolves
Freedom Evolves is a popular science and philosophy book by Daniel C. Dennett. Dennett describes the book as an installment of a lifelong philosophical project, earlier parts of which were The Intentional Stance, Consciousness Explained, and Elbow Room. It attempts to give an account of free will and moral responsibility that is complementary to Dennett's other views on consciousness and personhood. -
Humanist of the Year
Recognized by the American Academy of Achievement -
Sweet Dreams
This book was based on the text Jean Nicod lectures he gave in 2001. -
Golden Plate Award
Received from the American Academy of Achievement -
Breaking the Spell
Dennett 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. -
Fellow
He became a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. -
Freedom from Religion Foundation
He was named to the Freedom From Religion Foundation's Honorary Board of distinguished achievers. -
Mind and Barain Prize
The Mind & Brain Prize was established in 2003 and aims at honouring the most relevant researchers in the field of cognitive science, as well as to recognize outstanding achievement in advancing knowledge about mind and brain by persons whose work contributed to the growth and development of the discipline -
Erasmus Prize
The Erasmus Prize is an annual prize awarded by the board of the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation to individuals or institutions that have made exceptional contributions to culture, society, or social science in Europe and the rest of the world. -
From Bacteria to Bach and Back
From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds is a book about the origin of human consciousness by the philosopher Daniel Dennett, in which the author makes a case for a materialist theory of mind,[1] arguing that consciousness is no more mysterious than gravity. -
Honorary Doctorate
He was awarded an honorary doctorate (Dr.h.c.) by the Radboud University in Nijmegen, Netherlands, for his contributions to and influence on cross-disciplinary science. -
Date of Passing
Died in Portland, Maine at Age 82. He died of interstitial lung disease at Maine Medical Center