RIP Daniel Dennett

[TheVat]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2024/04/19/daniel-dennett-philosopher-atheist-darwinist/

 

Daniel Dennett, the American philosopher, who has died aged 82, was, with Richard Dawkins, a leading proponent of Darwinism and one of the most virulent controversialists on the academic circuit.

Dennett argued that everything has to be understood in terms of natural processes, and that terms such as “intelligence”, “free will”, “consciousness” “justice”, the “soul” or the “self” describe phenomena which can be explained in terms of physical processes and not the exercise of some disembodied or metaphysical power. How such processes operate he regarded as an empirical question, to be answered by looking at neuroanatomy – the engineering involved in brains.

Darwinism, to Dennett, was the grand unifying principle that explains how the simplest of organisms developed into human beings who can theorise about the sorts of creatures we are. In Consciousness Explained (1991), he argued that the term “consciousness” merely describes “dispositions to behave” and the idea of the “self” was nothing more than a “narrative centre of gravity”.

In Darwin’s Dangerous Idea (1995) he went further than any other philosopher or biologist in arguing that the whole of nature, including all individual human and social behaviour, is underpinned by a Darwinian “algorithm” – a single arithmetical, computational procedure.

Borrowing Richard Dawkins’s notion of “memes” (“bytes” of transferable cultural ideas encompassing anything from a belief in God to an individual’s fashion tastes), Dennett argued that the Darwinian algorithm also explained, for example, the musical genius of JS Bach, whose brain “was exquisitely designed as a programme for composing music”.

Dennett’s philosophy undercut any idea of teleology or “purposive” creation....

[iNow]

I’ve enjoyed many of his talks through the years, though it has been a minute. 

“There’s simply no polite way to tell people they’ve dedicated their lives to an illusion.”

[Eise]

This is sad news. He was one of the great philosophers of our time. He belongs to one of the most science oriented philosophers and one of the most honest thinkers I have known during my philosophy study. He didn't spare anybody with too naive ideas, be it materialistic or dualistic, but he always was kind, never attacking people personally, but critical reflecting on their ideas. He was able to show that it is possible to have a theory of consciousness, without leaving a physicalist ontological stance. Many people thought that his book 'Consciousness Explained', should have been titled 'Consciousness Explained Away', but I certainly do not agree with that. Consciousness exists, but it can be explained.

Same for free will. He could explain how a personal and societal relevant concept of free will can go perfectly together with determinism, where others keep sticking to either 'magical free will', or denying free will altogether. In his broader ideas, he was an atheist and humanist.

I do not know much about his personal life, but at least I know he also knew how to enjoy the pleasant sides of life. Enjoyer of (red?) wine, making his own cidre, harvesting the apples himself. I remember I once saw a video, where he was sitting on his tractor. I think he lived a very fulfilled life. 

We should all be glad that he lived his life as he did.

I will miss the many new ideas he could still have found, even in his higher age. A loss for the philosophical world and many other people who are, and might still be, inspired by his thinking.

Edited April 20 by Eise
Added remarks about his friendly character

[Eise]

This presentation is just a week old: Daniel Dennett Presents the 4 Biggest Ideas in Philosophy in One of His Final Videos (RIP).

More links in that page.

It nearly hurts, his illness must have been very short.

[TheVat]

I think someone posted that presentation just a week ago at the dot-com sciforum website.  I will watch it, thanks.

I always enjoyed watching him rattle the cages of other intellectuals, some mentioned in the obit - John Searle, Noam Chomsky, George Steiner, Stephen Jay Gould, Roger Penrose, Jerry Fodor, Richard Lewontin et al. Definitely a pitbull when it came to skyhook thinking. I want to go back and read some of his books, not that a person has to die for that to happen. I had some disagreement with his brain-as-computer view, but I acknowledge he made that argument with impressive clarity and finesse. His Multiple Drafts model of the mind struck me as one of the more nuanced forms of computationalism. He certainly did a fine job of demolishing the Cartesian Theater.

[iNow]

1 hour ago, Eise said:

This presentation is just a week old: Daniel Dennett Presents the 4 Biggest Ideas in Philosophy in One of His Final Videos (RIP).

More links in that page.

It nearly hurts, his illness must have been very short.

Thanks for the share 

[naitche]

Very sad news. I will miss  his contributions and ideas.

[MigL]

I'm not very familiar with him or his work, and frankly, I've never seen any validity in tilting at windmills like Religion; you cannot disprove a belief. But after Eise's glowing review  of his life/works  I will try to educate myself.

I probably wouldn't understand his Philosophical leanings, but I like red wine ( a little too much ) also, and have pictures of myself on a tractor.

[Eise]

6 hours ago, MigL said:

I probably wouldn't understand his Philosophical leanings

Most of Dennett's books, can be read by laypeople, but they are still quite an intellectual challenge. Better to do 'spiraling-in reading': first reading about Dennett, and then read his own books on the topics that interest you. Just to avoid a disappointment.

And I completely forgot to give TheVat 5 ups for his OP. As I can only give one point, and I got 4, those 4 van give them to TheVat too. His summary is also great. And without his OP, I might still not have known about Dennett's death.

PS Now downloading his book I've been thinking.

Edited April 21 by Eise

[joigus]

On 4/21/2024 at 12:21 PM, Eise said:

And I completely forgot to give TheVat 5 ups for his OP.

There. +1 from me. I hadn't seen this.

What good are algorithms? I think I've watched all of his online talks on YT, and the algorithm can't figure this out? 

My favourite Dennett tool is the intuition pump. It's the thought experiment of the philosophical world. He has a whole book devoted to this concept, as I'm sure you know.