What Kind Of Philosopher Is Daniel Dennett?

Dennett defends a particular form of determinism known as compatibilism. … For Dennett, the significance of free will is that it is the basis of morality and moral responsibility, of engaging in moral judgment and holding people responsible for their actions.

What religion is Daniel Dennett?

Daniel C. Dennett, in full Daniel Clement Dennett III, byname Dan Dennett, (born March 28, 1942, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.), American naturalist philosopher specializing in the philosophy of mind. He became a prominent figure in the atheist movement at the beginning of the 21st century.

Are philosophical zombies conceivable?

A 2013 survey of professional philosophers conducted by Bourget and Chalmers produced the following results: 35.6% said P Zombies were conceivable but not metaphysically possible; 23.3% said they were metaphysically possible; 16.0% said they were inconceivable; and 25.1% responded “other.”

Does Conceivability entail possibility Chalmers?

Others endorse the weaker claim that there is a merely prima facie connection between conceivability and possibility (hereafter ‘Defeasible Modal Rationalism’): Conceivability is prima facie evidence of metaphysical possibility, but it does not entail metaphysical possibility.

Is the Conceivability argument sound?

But since by hypothesis physicalism is true in their world, their argument is not sound. Therefore the conceivability argument used by actual philosophers is not sound either.

Does Dennett believe in God?

Dennett may not like it, but the vast majority of believers are exactly that: believers. They don’t believe in belief, they don’t believe that it’s good to believe in something. They believe in God, in Jesus Christ, in Mohammed or in Moses. And mind you: many of them are not stupid.

What is consciousness Daniel Dennett?

Dennett describes consciousness as an account of the various calculations occurring in the brain at close to the same time. He compares consciousness to an academic paper that is being developed or edited in the hands of multiple people at one time, the “multiple drafts” theory of consciousness.

What is a Deepity?

A deepity, as Dennett characterizes it, is a sentence or other utterance that has more than one interpretation; it has “two readings and balances precariously between them. On one reading it is true but trivial, and on another it is false but would be earth-shattering if true.”

Is Dennett a behaviorist?

The kind of “behaviorism” that Dennett defends has room for “feelings, pains, dreams, beliefs, and hopes and expectations” ” but only so long as these are understood to be physical (`informational’ or `computational’) processes that could be accomplished by the machinery of the brain.” Dennett evidently grants “the …

Why do we want free will Dennett?

In short, Dennett is saying that because the uncontrolled falling dominos of our actions exist within our bodies, they are ours, and therefore we have freedom. That’s how he’s getting there. Harris and I say, “Well, your decisions are just coming to you from your brain. You don’t even know why you’re doing that.”

What is a Compatibilist view on free will?

Compatibilism is the thesis that free will is compatible with determinism. Because free will is typically taken to be a necessary condition of moral responsibility, compatibilism is sometimes expressed as a thesis about the compatibility between moral responsibility and determinism.

Is Dennett a materialist?

Although a committed materialist, Dennett recognizes that there are certain factors which seem, initially, to constitute serious obstacles to any materialist account.

Who created Panpsychism?

Panpsychism is the view that all things have a mind or a mind-like quality. The word itself was coined by the Italian philosopher Francesco Patrizi in the sixteenth century, and derives from the two Greek words pan (all) and psyche (soul or mind).

What is Dennett’s main argument in his essay Where am I?

His brain is still connected to his body and able to control his tasks through radio links. Dennett then proposes the question of, “where am I?” If his brain is in a whole different location than his body, then where is his personal identity?

Is mind an illusion?

In one article, Peter Carruthers sits down with editor Steve Ayan to explain his hypothesis that consciousness is mostly an illusion (see “There Is No Such Thing as Conscious Thought”); the thoughts and feelings that arise in your mind are a result of unconscious mental processes operating behind the scenes.

Is Dan Dennett a Compatibilist?

Dennett is a compatibilist, meaning he subscribes to the belief that free will and determinism can coexist without being logically incoherent. For compatibilists, this means agents are morally responsible for their actions as long as those actions do not arise from external coercion.

Is dualism a theory?

In the philosophy of mind, dualism is the theory that the mental and the physical – or mind and body or mind and brain – are, in some sense, radically different kinds of thing. …

What is Dennett’s point about the goal of truth?

The point of asking questions is to find true answers; the point of measuring is to measure accurately; the point of making maps is to find your way to your destination. … In short, the goal of truth goes without saying, in every human culture.

What are Qualia and what is the Qualia problem?

Qualia are the subjective or qualitative properties of experiences. What it feels like, experientially, to see a red rose is different from what it feels like to see a yellow rose. Likewise for hearing a musical note played by a piano and hearing the same musical note played by a tuba.

What is the divisibility argument?

The divisibility argument is one of three of Descartes’ arguments for substance dualism: that is the view that the mind and body are separate. The argument runs as follows: Bodies are divisible into spatial parts. Minds are not divisible into spatial parts. Therefore, the mind is a distinct substance from the body.

What is Epiphenomenalism dualism?

Epiphenomenalism is the view that mental events are caused by physical events in the brain, but have no effects upon any physical events. … The modern discussion of epiphenomenalism, however, traces back to a 19th century context, in which a dualistic view of mental events was assumed to be correct.

What is a modal argument?

Now a modal argument is one in which either a premise or the conclusion is an ordinary or an extraordinary modal judgment. Thus, in modal arguments, we reason about what is necessary, possible, or impossible, or about what might, must, or could not be the case….

What does metaphysically possible mean?

Metaphysical possibility is one way of thinking about the possibility of something being the case, a way that is often of special relevance to philosophers. If you think about it, we often use the phrase ‘x is possible’ in a variety of ways.


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