Daniel Dennett

The only truly introductory collection that explores the implications of Dennett's diverse body of work.

Andrew Brook (Edited by), Don Ross (Edited by)

9780521008648, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 21 January 2002

320 pages, 1 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.3 x 2.1 cm, 0.435 kg

"...one of the most succinct and engaging overviews of Dennett's stance currently available. Indeed, for anyone looking for a helpful companion to his or her initial engagement with Dennett's own writings, I know of no better place to start." Metapsychology Online Book Reviews

Contemporary Philosophy in Focus will offer a series of introductory volumes to many of the dominant philosophical thinkers of the current age. Each volume will consist of newly commissioned essays that will cover all the major contributions of a preeminent philosopher in a systematic and accessible manner. Author of such groundbreaking and influential books as Consciousness Explained and Darwin's Dangerous Idea, Daniel C. Dennett has reached a huge general and professional audience that extends way beyond the confines of academic philosophy. He has made significant contributions to the study of consciousness, the development of the child's mind, cognitive ethnology, explanation in the social sciences, artificial intelligence, and evolutionary theory. This volume is the only truly introductory collection that traces these connections, explores the implications of Dennett's work, and furnishes the non-specialist with a fully-rounded account of why Dennett is such an important voice on the philosophical scene.

Part I. Introduction: 1. Dennett's place in the intellectual world Andrew Brook and Don Ross
Part II. Consciousness: 2. The appearance of things Andrew Brook
3. Catching consciousness in a recurrent net Paul M. Churchland
Part III. Uses of Dennett's Method: 4. The intentional stance: developmental and neurocognitive perspectives Richard Griffin and Simon Baron-Cohen
5. Dennett's contribution to research on the animal mind Robert M. Seyfarth and Dorothy L. Cheney
6. Dennettian behavioral explanations and the roles of the social sciences Don Ross
Part IV. Two Concerns: 7. That special something: Dennett on the making of minds and selves Andy Clark
8. A question of content Kathleen Akins
Part V. Artificial Intelligence and Evolutionary Theory: 9. Dennett and artificial intelligence: on the same side, and if so, so what? Yorick Wilks
10. Dennett and the Darwin wars Don Ross.

Subject Areas: History of Western philosophy [HPC]