The main area of interest of the scientist lies in the study from a philosophical and at the same time scientific point of view of human consciousness, will and other basic concepts. But what factors and influences formed the philosopher’s thinking can be found out from his biography, especially the period of student life.
History tour
It’s worth starting a day to understand its everyday life and surroundings, because Daniel Dennett, a biography briefly describes the typical life of a philosopher and scientist, was born in Boston in an ordinary American family of historians. Graduated at Harvard.
Further development of the scientist’s thinking took place at
the University of Oxford under the guidance of Professor Ryle. It was under his influence and patronage that Daniel Dennett wrote and defended his dissertation, and also published the first book - "Content and Consciousness" - in 1969. His views, of course, were influenced by the American period of life, but British analytics was also close to Dennett, so the book turned out to be quite revolutionary for those times.
Major Achievements
Having received a Ph.D., the scientist goes to Massachusetts, Tufts University, where he teaches in the specialty to this day. In addition, he gives individual lectures at various universities in the world - from the relatives of Harvard and Oxford to Moscow State University. Now the scientist is 74 years old, he is fond of science, sculpture. In 2012, he became an honorary winner of the Erasmus of Rotterdam Prize for his significant contribution to European culture and society.
So, Daniel Dennett, whose biography partially influenced his thinking and statements, has written many works in his life. The most famous of them are Eye of the Mind, Types of the Psyche, Elbow Room, Brainstorms, Neuroscience and Philosophy. Many of them are revered among scientists, but, unfortunately, only a few have been translated into Russian.
Basics of Judgment
The main metaphysical tool in his judgment, Daniel Dennett considered human consciousness. He reinforces his reasoning with scientific facts from cognitive psychology, cybernetics and microbiology. He also always respects like-minded colleagues, but does not forget to get acquainted with their work, express his opinion and criticize constructively. For example, he wrote a review of Dawkins's book The Selfish Gene. According to his works, it is clear that the scientist is constantly in thought about consciousness, determining what living creatures it is in. Daniel Dennett claims that “having knowledge of other people's experiences and thoughts” means having consciousness. The scientist is trying to justify the ability to use linguistics and reflection as a “sign of possession of consciousness” by evolutionary Darwinian theory. The Darwinian idea and theory of the survival of the fittest is used by the philosopher to prove that man is the best in this field, because he knows how to build theories and calculate the near future events. As a result, we have an "intentional attitude." This concept means that we ascribe in advance to the being feelings, opinions that could guide his actions. Intentionality strives to achieve the maximum benefit for itself; therefore, it is as predictable as possible, although in other aspects its values may deviate.
In general, a person consists of microrobots, the role of which is played by systems of molecules. We are united with animals by “knowledge of how,” thanks to which machine actions in the environment are performed. But a person has an advantage: you can ask questions and reflect on this mechanical knowledge, compare them with others. And you can transfer any information to another person, thereby stimulating intelligence and developing an intentional attitude. All this is done using ordinary words that form new associative "nodules" in the cerebral cortex. Sometimes, to free the brain from memory nodes and tags, a person uses written sources of information, which become a material continuation of thinking. Therefore, for reasonable thinking, there is no significant difference when using different sources of information.
Additional areas of thought
But the issues that Daniel Dennett deals with include one more thought: the intentionality of one person makes it possible for her to manipulate someone else. Therefore, more effective interspecific competition will be in the case of hiding valuable information. And the most profitable strategy of behavior is communication and diplomacy - to tell, hiding some details for the sake of performing a cunning maneuver. The environment for preserving the omissions should be strong enough and significant for the realization of the future. From this it follows that it is the struggle for survival that becomes primary, and intentionality secondary. Since the opponent / competitor also has its own intentionality, it turns out that our competition and struggle depend on the idea of the future of another person or the environment in which we compete. To "calculate" thoughts about the future of another person, you must already be included in a symbolic environment, that is, to be someone calculated. The circle of judgments is closed, and Daniel Dennett, whose consciousness gave rise to this theory, still can not argue and explain where the sources of the sign environment come from. Therefore, his earliest theory still requires refinements and several missing links in a bunch of Darwinism and consciousness.
Criticism of the scientist
In this theory, his opinion echoes Richard Dawkins, Stephen Pinker, and is opposed to the judgments of Stephen Gould and Edward Wilson. Radical adaptationism in the works written by Daniel Dennett generated a lot of criticism among metaphysicians. They called his approach too simplistic and not much different from the old trend of behaviorism. He too crudely and superficially explained such concepts as “qualia” (the basis of human perception of things), and other most complex objects in consciousness. The sharpest review of Daniel is Consciousness Destroyed by Explanation.
Explanation of free will
Atheism and human free will are concepts that Daniel Dennett also drew attention to. Freedom of will in his judgments is considered not from the point of view of existence, but from the point of view of need for man. He combines this concept with determinism (causal relationships), believing that a deep understanding of causality lies at the heart of free will. This direction was called "compatibilism." The work of Elbow Room is dedicated to him.
Right thinking
The scientist may not be understood by all metaphysicians, his work always causes a lot of scientific debate and debate. Despite this, he is convinced of his judgments and works to improve them. Daniel Dennett, whose quotes are popular among atheists, gives small lectures where he intelligibly and with examples argues his point of view on faith and religion in general. He conducts psychological experiments among priests and finds among them atheists who cannot admit this to themselves. At the same time, he recognizes the difference between God and the supernatural, and also asks many suggestive questions that help you decide whether you are a believer or not. One recent work is Intuition Pumps And Other Tools for Thinking - talks about how to learn how to think like a scientist.
Daniel Dennett gives these tips:
- Use mistakes, conduct introspection, and not fall into despair and despondency.
- Question the phrase “of course”, which, according to the scientist, indicates the fact that the story is unfounded and the narrator wants to “slip” untruthful information to the listener as quickly as possible.
- Respect your opponent, show justice and goodwill towards him, so that he accepts your criticism.
- Give answers to rhetorical questions.
- Use Occam's razor principle in your judgments , cutting off all unnecessary, and thereby save mental paths to prove the fact.
- Use your time wisely without wasting it on empty arguments, especially on ideological grounds.
- Do not use such a concept as "pseudo-depth", it is created only on the basis of the incomprehensibility of the judgment, and not on its truth and justice.