Daniel Dennett Knihy

Co je to mysl a kdo jiný (kromě tázajícího se) ji má? Autor se na tuto otázku snaží odpovědět pomocí propojování výsledků filosofie, umělé inteligence i neurobiologie. Může někdo z nás někdy skutečně vědět, co se děje v mysli někoho jiného? Co odlišuje lidskou mysl od myslí jiných živočichů, zvláště těch, kteří nám jsou z vývojového hlediska blízcí? Kdyby se některým z takových živočichů zázrakem dostalo daru řeči, co bychom se od nich mohli dozvědět? Mohli by vyvinout onu dosud výlučně lidskou schopnost teoretizovat o světě, který obývají? Budou roboti, až se jim jednou dostane senzorických smyslových systémů, které jim dovolí získávat zkušenosti o světě, myslet tak jako my? Dennett k těmto otázkám přistupuje z hlediska evoluce a přirozeného výběru: Začíná od makromolekul DNA a RNA a pak ukazuje, jak se život, krok po kroku, vyvíjel od jednoduché schopnosti reagovat na často se opakující rysy prostředí k mnohem sofistikovanějším způsobům překonávání obtíží a využívání vzorců minulé zkušenosti k předpovídání budoucnosti. Tvrdí, že ke své jedinečné lidské schopnosti formulovat a uskutečňovat své dlouhodobé záměry jsme se dostali řadou překvapivě malých a na první pohled nikoli převratných kroků. Dennett zaujímá k některým z tradičních otázek poněkud překvapivý postoj: Jeho kniha nenabízí žádné jednoduché a uzemňující odpovědi, jistě však nenechá klidným nikoho, kdo si otázky související s povahou mysli někdy sám kladl.

Brilliant, shattering, mind-jolting,The Mind's Iis a searching, probing nook--a cosmic journey of the mind--that goes deeply into the problem of self and self-consciousness as anything written in our time. From verbalizing chimpanzees to scientific speculations involving machines with souls, from the mesmerizing, maze-like fiction of Borges to the tantalizing, dreamlike fiction of Lem and Princess Ineffable, her circuits glowing read and gold,The Mind's I opens the mind to the Black Box of fantasy, to the windfalls of reflection, to new dimensions of exciting possibilities.

Argues that the theory of evolution can demystify the miracles of life without devaluing our most cherished beliefs. In this book, the author explores every aspect of evolutionary thinking to show why it is so fundamental to our existence, and why it affirms - not threatens - our convictions about the meaning of life.

The New York Times bestseller – a “crystal-clear, constantly engaging” (Jared Diamond) exploration of the role that religious belief plays in our lives and our interactions For all the thousands of books that have been written about religion, few until this one have attempted to examine it scientifically: to ask why—and how—it has shaped so many lives so strongly. Is religion a product of blind evolutionary instinct or rational choice? Is it truly the best way to live a moral life? Ranging through biology, history, and psychology, Daniel C. Dennett charts religion’s evolution from “wild” folk belief to “domesticated” dogma. Not an antireligious screed but an unblinking look beneath the veil of orthodoxy, Breaking the Spell will be read and debated by believers and skeptics alike.

Can there be freedom and free will in a deterministic world? Renowned philosopher Daniel Dennett emphatically answers "yes!" Using an array of provocative formulations, Dennett sets out to show how we alone among the animals have evolved minds that give us free will and morality. Weaving a richly detailed narrative, Dennett explains in a series of strikingly original arguments—drawing upon evolutionary biology, cognitive neuroscience, economics, and philosophy—that far from being an enemy of traditional explorations of freedom, morality, and meaning, the evolutionary perspective can be an indispensable ally. In Freedom Evolves, Dennett seeks to place ethics on the foundation it deserves: a realistic, naturalistic, potentially unified vision of our place in nature.

One of the world's leading philosophers offers aspiring thinkers his personal trove of mind-stretching thought experiments. Includes 77 of Dennett's most successful "imagination-extenders and focus-holders.O

One of America's foremost philosophers offers a major new account of the origins of the conscious mind.

'One of today's most readable, intellectually nimble and scientifically literate philosophers' Nature 'Who would have guessed that a philosopher's life could be so full of adventures?' Daniel C. Dennett, philosopher and cognitive scientist, has spent his career considering consciousness. I've Been Thinking traces the development of Dennett's own intellect and instructs us how we too can become good thinkers. Dennett's restless curiosity leads him from his childhood in Beirut to Harvard, and from Parisian jazz clubs to 'tillosophy' on his tractor in Maine. Along the way, he encounters and debates with a host of legendary thinkers, and reveals the breakthroughs and misjudgments that shaped his paradigm-shifting philosophies. Thinking, Dennett argues, is hard, and risky. In fact, all good philosophical thinking is inevitably accompanied by bafflement, frustration and self-doubt. It is only in getting it wrong that we, very occasionally, find a way to get it right. This memoir by one of the greatest philosophers of our time will speak to anyone who seeks a life of the mind with adventure and creativity.

An enlightening discussion that will motivate students to think critically, the book opens with Plantinga's assertion that Christianity is compatible with evolutionary theory because Christians believe that God created the living world, and it is entirely possible that God did so by using a process of evolution.