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Books : Freedom Evolves
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Freedom Evolves by: Daniel C. Dennett |
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Binding: Hardcover EAN: 9780713993394 ISBN: 0713993391 Label: Allen Lane Manufacturer: Allen Lane Number Of Pages: 368 Publication Date: February 06, 2003 Publisher: Allen Lane Studio: Allen Lane Sales Rank: 500735 Related Items:
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Editorial Review: Amazon.co.uk Review: Daniel Dennett's latest book Freedom Evolves continues the themes that have become his trademark in previous titles such as Consciousness Explained and Darwin's Dangerous Idea. His task is to give a thorough account of how we--and our minds--evolved and to calm fears that such an account presents a threat to the concept of free will. In one of the most arresting and important chapters in the book, Dennett lays bare several common misconceptions about determinism and introduces a toy model which demonstrates how simple, mindlessly deterministic automata appear to make rational 'choices' to avoid harm in their limited environment. Dennett claims that misunderstanding of determinism is still prevalent among scientists and philosophers who subsequently misrepresent his views as they continue to resist a materialistic treatment of mind. Their fear is that if we should ever be revealed to be 'mere machines' this will bring with it a death sentence to consciousness and free-will. Such fears resist Dennett's argument as wrong and an insult to our sense of human dignity. After carefully addressing those fears, Dennett goes on to show how we humans can be both a creation of and a creator of culture; arguing that we are of course a species of animal but the emergence of human culture is a major innovation in evolutionary history providing our species with new tools to use, new topics to think about and new perspectives to think from. What makes Dennett such an unforgettably stimulating philosopher is not just the breadth of his inter-disciplinary knowledge or his boldness and originality, it is that--knowing how difficult it is to get people to accept counter-intuitive ideas--he helps the reader visualise his materialistic/naturalistic world-view. There is undoubtedly still work to do to reconcile the philosophical implications of Darwinian materialism and what makes Dennett genuinely important is that he is set on trying to bring our precious values, including the notion of freedom, into line with Darwin and new found scientific discoveries. He is encouraging us to drop the self-image we inherited from Christianity and the Western philosophical tradition with all its argument about a special extra added ingredient called consciousness that is unique to humans. Sure we have consciousness, but there's no magic in it, says Dennett. What we need, what Dennett is offering us, is a new improved self-image. Just because there isn't a self to be found sitting inside our brains looking out into the world and making decisions doesn't mean the self is an illusion. There are other, better ways to think about the self, he stresses. He also argues that even though we are made of tiny mindless little robots that are oblivious to our hopes and needs, there's no shame in that and no reason for alarm. What we are made of and what we can hope and strive for are different things. Freedom Evolves is the culmination of three decades worth of research. --Larry Brown Customer Reviews
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 Rating: - Good in partsThis book left me with very mixed feelings. On the one hand I found it quite heavy going and that it didn't entirely live up to all the superlatives plastered over its covers. Not the cover with the goldfish which is shown here, incidentally. On the other hand there was one chapter which I found very useful indeed. The chapter which I found useful included a discussion of Benjamin Libet's work. Libet describes how a 'readiness potential' can be detected prior to our getting the conscious intention that we are going to move. It starts to look as if our free will is under considerable threat from this finding. The only choice we are left with is a brief window of opportunity to veto the movement. As Ramachandran said, "... ... Read More: Rating: - Striking and ConvincingDennet writes with so much wit and charm that even the sceptical determinist can become beguiled with his explainations of conciousness and the evolutionary shaping of free will. Expertly written and very well paced for the lay-reader. This book left me with an optimistic feeling for the fate of humanity. Rating: - Let's Get MetaphysicalDaniel Dennett is not a man to shy from grand philosophical pronouncements. Having declared the book closed on the Mind debate in "Consciousness Explained" (others are still offering odds) and having found beyond reasonable doubt for the Botanist in the case of Darwin vs. God in "Darwin's Dangerous Idea", Daniel Dennett now purports to settle the third of the great metaphysical questions: Do we have free will? Not only that, indeed, but he purports - I think - to have found a method for achieving moral objectivity while he was at it. Yes, I'm being a little ironic. But, for the most part, I'm a buyer: Dennett's books are certainly fascinating, and in large part compelling, and this one is no exception. Just as there are ... Read More: Rating:  - Warning! Not for closed minds!Actually, that review title's false. This book is a tool kit aimed precisely at closed minds. Assuming that even closed minds have niches and clefts, Dennett's kit is for opening those nooks and crannies. Every tool is a tiny wedge, each labelled "natural selection." The closed ramparts he wants to breach are concepts most of us hold dear - "determinism," "free will" and "consciousness." He doesn't want to destroy those concepts. He wants to part the seams to insert new material. He wants his readers to "adjust their imaginations" to allow some redefinitions of these and other firmly held traditions. For that, he insists, is what evolution is all about for humans - that ideas are constantly in flux. Holding steadfastly to beliefs that new ideas ... Read More: |
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