by Daniel Clement Dennett
Daniel Dennett is a very confused fellow. In this volume, he argues that Darwinian natural selection behaves as though it were intelligently designing the living world we all know and love. And in other volumes (e.g. "The Intentional Stance"), he argues that we are justified in adopting the 'intentional stance' toward a system if, and to the extent that, we find this 'stance' fruitful in understanding its behavior. So what "is" his beef with people who adopt the 'intentional stance' toward evolution itself? If it "looks" and "acts" like a process of intelligent design, then doesn't his own philosophy argue that we should "treat" it as such? But, oddly, he wants to stick religious people into 'cultural zoos' and take away their children (that's what he says in this book). Why is that? And why "shouldn't" we regard someone who says such a thing as a 'vile little fascist'? Reviews
Darwin's Dangerous Idea is divided into three parts. In the first part, "Starting in the Middle," Dennett places the idea of evolution by natural selection in its historical context then explains it in his characteristically vivacious style. In the second part, "Darwinian Thinking in Biology," he critically examines challenges to Darwin's idea. Connoisseurs of intellectual controversy will especially relish chapter 10 ("Bully for Brontosaurus"), in which Stephen Jay Gould is castigated for misleadingly presenting his views as radical and anti-Darwinian. Finally, in the third part, Dennett discusses the implications of Darwinian thinking for "Mind, Meaning, Mathematics, and Morality." Among the luminaries targeted here are Noam Chomsky and Roger Penrose. Throughout, Dennett manages to synthesize information from many different fields into one unified view of life and its meaning. Writing with style and wit, he again shows that he merits his reputation as one of the best popularizers of science. - Glenn Branch Amazon.com
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