Thanks for posting this Massimo. What a challenge it is to argue well by using Dennett's four suggestions. We are fortunate that his work leaves a lasting legacy to guide us in thinking well.
I was introduced to Dennet when my nephew noted I looked like him. I was then very busy in my career and ny leisure reading tied up with my surgical specialty and teaching reluctant residents to be skeptics and read articles carefully. Now my macula make reading difficult. Hitch, I enjoyed the discussion of he and George Packer on Orwell . When smart people discuss without rancor they give insight
That's a very nice article, Massimo, and you were fast - thanks :)
Some random observations from my side.
My first Dennett book was "Consciousness explained" which I should reread but is in many ways the most fascinating.
He wrote a second book on Free will together with Gregg Caruso, "Just deserts".
Dennett recently said in a podcast that he regretted the follow-up of "Darwin's dangerous idea". He didn't say it this explicitly but it seemed to me that he meant both the amount of effort involved in making and repeating his rather obvious point ("given our understanding of evolution, the need for the existence of a creator is gone") and the vitriol of the discussions.
Moreover, quite a number of newspaper headlines ran "Dennett, controversial atheists, dies" which understates everything else DD did. I rather like the frontpage "provocative thinker on free will, machines and consciousness" of one of the papers I read.
(side issue: among the four horsemen, Dennett comes out by far the best: Hitch was funny and literate but a bit shallow, and he died too young; Harris is completely lost in Islamophobia; and Dawkins, who's my hero bc of the Selfish gene and sequels, managed to destroy himself through all sorts of misogyny, misplaced nostalgia and more bs)
Thanks for this, Massimo. Dan Dennett was a big influence on my thinking over the years. Like you, I found his "elbow room" approach to free will very compelling. I just read the NY Times obituary, and I think they got his view of free will completely wrong. Their summary of it sounds more like Sam Harris than Dan Dennett.
I'm a huge fan of Dennett, particularly Darwin's Dangerous Idea and Consciousness Explained. I'm sorry to hear of his passing, but we knew he was mortal, didn't we? Thank you for letting us know of his passing.
Massimo, thanks for this! It’s indeed an intro to Dennett for me, since I didn’t know about him before. Sounds like there might be some great reads waiting for me. :-)
Thanks for introducing Dennett, Massimo. He may have physically passed, but he left some of his mind behind to trace his journey of thought. He sounds like someone saying, “Don’t lose sight of the trees when you see the forest.” We must always keep in mind what we are thinking by how we are thinking. Consciousness and the why, and all the invisible “baggage” we carry with it are great questions being usually unseen. I don’t think much of the New York Times anymore. I’m just waiting for the attack on Stoicism
as an “-ism.” Maybe it’s a good cloaking device that it’s already attached. Reverse psychology. Maybe “Stoicientologism” will be coined and we’ll luminesce as quacks? 😊
I didn't realize he had died. I read Darwin's Dangerous Idea when I was young, and it was what put me on the path of leaving behind the beliefs I grew up with, and eventually to this, much later.
Thanks for posting this Massimo. What a challenge it is to argue well by using Dennett's four suggestions. We are fortunate that his work leaves a lasting legacy to guide us in thinking well.
I was introduced to Dennet when my nephew noted I looked like him. I was then very busy in my career and ny leisure reading tied up with my surgical specialty and teaching reluctant residents to be skeptics and read articles carefully. Now my macula make reading difficult. Hitch, I enjoyed the discussion of he and George Packer on Orwell . When smart people discuss without rancor they give insight
That's a very nice article, Massimo, and you were fast - thanks :)
Some random observations from my side.
My first Dennett book was "Consciousness explained" which I should reread but is in many ways the most fascinating.
He wrote a second book on Free will together with Gregg Caruso, "Just deserts".
Dennett recently said in a podcast that he regretted the follow-up of "Darwin's dangerous idea". He didn't say it this explicitly but it seemed to me that he meant both the amount of effort involved in making and repeating his rather obvious point ("given our understanding of evolution, the need for the existence of a creator is gone") and the vitriol of the discussions.
Moreover, quite a number of newspaper headlines ran "Dennett, controversial atheists, dies" which understates everything else DD did. I rather like the frontpage "provocative thinker on free will, machines and consciousness" of one of the papers I read.
(side issue: among the four horsemen, Dennett comes out by far the best: Hitch was funny and literate but a bit shallow, and he died too young; Harris is completely lost in Islamophobia; and Dawkins, who's my hero bc of the Selfish gene and sequels, managed to destroy himself through all sorts of misogyny, misplaced nostalgia and more bs)
Thanks for this, Massimo. Dan Dennett was a big influence on my thinking over the years. Like you, I found his "elbow room" approach to free will very compelling. I just read the NY Times obituary, and I think they got his view of free will completely wrong. Their summary of it sounds more like Sam Harris than Dan Dennett.
I'm a huge fan of Dennett, particularly Darwin's Dangerous Idea and Consciousness Explained. I'm sorry to hear of his passing, but we knew he was mortal, didn't we? Thank you for letting us know of his passing.
shrink to proper size...back to the dust or ashes
Massimo, thanks for this! It’s indeed an intro to Dennett for me, since I didn’t know about him before. Sounds like there might be some great reads waiting for me. :-)
Thanks for introducing Dennett, Massimo. He may have physically passed, but he left some of his mind behind to trace his journey of thought. He sounds like someone saying, “Don’t lose sight of the trees when you see the forest.” We must always keep in mind what we are thinking by how we are thinking. Consciousness and the why, and all the invisible “baggage” we carry with it are great questions being usually unseen. I don’t think much of the New York Times anymore. I’m just waiting for the attack on Stoicism
as an “-ism.” Maybe it’s a good cloaking device that it’s already attached. Reverse psychology. Maybe “Stoicientologism” will be coined and we’ll luminesce as quacks? 😊
A lovely tribute to a great man. Thank you.
I did like "Darwin's Dangerous Idea". Maybe I should reread it.
It seems I definitely should read "Intuition Pumps...". The 4 rules for arguing with kindness look like something I should aspire to as well.
I hadn't heard of Dennett until October 2022. Since then, I've learnt a lot about and from him.
From what I can tell, it seems he left an indelible mark in many people's lives.
I didn't realize he had died. I read Darwin's Dangerous Idea when I was young, and it was what put me on the path of leaving behind the beliefs I grew up with, and eventually to this, much later.