Pascal Boyer (fl. c. 1990-2000) is a French anthropologist, and Henry Luce Professor of Individual and Collective Memory at Washington University in St. Louis. He is a Guggenheim Fellow.

Work

He advocates the idea that human instincts provide us with the basis for an intuitive theory of mind that guides our social relations, morality, and predilections toward religious beliefs. Boyer and others propose that these innate mental systems make human beings predisposed to certain cultural elements such as belief in supernatural beings.

Boyer has conducted long term ethnographic fieldwork in Africa, where he studied the transmission of oral epics, and has held teaching and research positions at several universities.

Books

''Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought'' (2002) Basic Books. ISBN 0465006965.

*Translated into Greek as ''Και ο Άνθρωπος Έπλασε τους Θεούς'', by Dimitris Xygalatas and Nikolas Roubekas (ISBN 9789602882252).

*Translated into Polish as "I człowiek stworzył bogów... Jak powstała religia?" (ISBN 8373379851).

See also

Evolutionary origin of religions

Evolutionary epistemology

Evolutionary psychology

Faith and rationality

Relationship between religion and science

Cognitive science of religion

Evolutionary psychology of religion

Notes and references

External links

"Why Is Religion Natural?", ''Sceptical Inquirer'', Volume 28.2, March/April 2004

Book review: Religion Explained, by Pascal Boyer

Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:Washington University in St. Louis faculty Category:French anthropologists Category:Guggenheim Fellows

bg:Паскал Бойер de:Pascal Boyer fr:Pascal Boyer nl:Pascal Boyer ja:パスカル・ボイヤー pl:Pascal Boyer sv:Pascal Boyer

Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
name	Jonathan Miller
birth name	Jonathan Wolfe Miller
birth date	July 21, 1934
birth place	London, U.K.
spouse	Helen Rachel Collet(1956–present)
website	}}

Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE (born 21 July 1934) is a British theatre and opera director, actor, author, television presenter, humorist and sculptor. Trained as a physician in the late 1950s, he first came to prominence in the early 1960s with his role in the comedy revue ''Beyond the Fringe'' with fellow writers and performers Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Alan Bennett. Despite having seen few operas and not knowing how to read music, he began stage-directing them in the 1970s and has since become one of the world's leading opera directors with several classic productions to his credit. His best-known production is probably his 1982 "Mafia"-styled ''Rigoletto'' set in 1950s Little Italy, Manhattan. In its early days he was an associate director at the Royal National Theatre and later he ran the Old Vic Theatre. He has also become a well-known television personality and familiar public intellectual in Britain and the United States of America.

Biography

Early life

Miller grew up in St John's Wood, London, in a well-connected Jewish family. His father Emanuel (1892–1970), who suffered from severe rheumatoid arthritis, was a military psychiatrist, and subsequently a paediatric psychiatrist in Harley House. His mother Betty Miller (née Spiro) was a novelist and biographer. Miller's sister Sarah (died 2006) worked in television for many years and retained an involvement with Judaism that he, an atheist, has always eschewed. He was educated at St Paul's School, London where he developed an early (and ultimately lifelong) interest in the biological sciences. Miller studied natural sciences and medicine at St John's College, Cambridge (MB BCh, 1959), where he was a member of the Cambridge Apostles, before going on to University College London. While studying medicine, Miller was involved in the Cambridge Footlights, appearing in the revues ''Out of the Blue'' (1954) and ''Between the Lines'' (1955). Good reviews for these shows, and for Miller's performances in particular, led to him performing on a number of radio and TV shows while continuing his studies; these included appearances on ''Saturday Night on the Light'', ''Tonight'' and ''Sunday Night at the London Palladium''. He qualified as a medical doctor in 1959 and then worked as a hospital house officer for two years, including at the Central Middlesex Hospital as house physician for gastroenterologist Dr.(later Sir) Frances Avery Jones.

1960s: ''Beyond the Fringe''

In 1960, Miller helped to write and produce a musical revue, ''Beyond the Fringe'', at the Edinburgh Festival. This launched, in addition to his own, the careers of Alan Bennett, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. Miller quit the show shortly after its move from London to Broadway in 1962, and took over as editor and presenter of the BBC's flagship arts programme ''Monitor'' in 1965. All these appointments were unsolicited invitations, the ''Monitor'' appointment arose because Miller had approached Huw Wheldon about taking up a place on the BBC's director training course, in which Miller was assured that he would "pick it up as he went along". In 1966, he wrote, produced, and directed a film adaptation of ''Alice in Wonderland'' for the BBC. In 1968 he directed ''Whistle and I'll Come to You'' starring Michael Hordern, a television adaptation of M. R. James's 1904 ghost story "Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad". By 1970, his reputation in British theatre was such that he mounted a West End production of ''The Merchant of Venice'' starring Laurence Olivier.

1970s: Medical history and opera

Miller held a research fellowship in the history of medicine at University College, London from 1970 to 1973. In 1974, he also started directing and producing operas for Kent Opera and Glyndebourne, followed by a new production of ''The Marriage of Figaro'' for English National Opera in 1978. Despite only having seen a few operas and not knowing how to read music, Miller has become one of the world's leading opera directors with classic productions being ''Rigoletto'' (in 1975 and 1982) and the operetta ''The Mikado'' (in 1987).

Miller drew upon his own experiences as a physician as writer and presenter of the BBC television series ''The Body in Question'' (1979), which caused some controversy for showing the dissection of a cadaver. For a time, he was a vice president of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality.

1980s: Shakespeare and neuropsychology

In 1980, Miller was persuaded to join the troubled ''BBC Television Shakespeare'' project (1978–85). He became producer (1980–82) and directed six of the plays himself, beginning with a well received ''Taming of the Shrew'' starring John Cleese. In the early 1980s, Miller was a popular and frequent guest on PBS' ''Dick Cavett Show''.

Miller wrote and presented the BBC television series ''States of Mind'' in 1983. In 1984, he studied neuropsychology with Dr. Sandra Witelson at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada before becoming a neuropsychology research fellow at Sussex University the following year.

1990s to present

In 1990, Miller wrote and presented a joint BBC/Canadian production entitled, "Born Talking: A Personal Inquiry into Language". The four-part series looked into the acquisition and complexities surrounding language production. Miller then wrote and presented the television series ''Madness'' (1991) and ''Jonathan Miller on Reflection'' (1998). The five-part ''Madness'' series ran on PBS in 1991. It featured a brief history of madness and interviews with psychiatric researchers, clinical psychiatrists, and patients in therapy sessions.

In 2004, Miller wrote and presented a TV series on atheism entitled ''Atheism: A Rough History of Disbelief'' (more commonly referred to as ''Jonathan Miller's Brief History of Disbelief'') for BBC Four, exploring the roots of his own atheism and investigating the history of atheism in the world. Individual conversations, debates and discussions for the series that could not be included due to time constraints were aired in a six-part series entitled ''The Atheism Tapes''. He also appeared on a BBC Two programme in February 2004, called ''What the World Thinks of God'' appearing from New York. The original three-part series was slated to air on Public Television in the United States, starting 4 May 2007, cosponsored by the American Ethical Union, American Humanist Association, Center for Inquiry, the HKH Foundation, and the Institute for Humanist Studies.

In 2007, Miller directed ''The Cherry Orchard'' at The Crucible, Sheffield, his first work on the British stage for ten years. He also directed Monteverdi's ''L'Orfeo'' in Manchester and Bristol, and ''Der Rosenkavalier'' in Tokyo and gave talks throughout Britain during 2007 called ''An Audience with Jonathan Miller'' in which he spoke about his life for an hour and then fielded questions from the audience. He also curated an exhibition on camouflage at the Imperial War Museum. He has appeared at the Royal Society of the Arts in London discussing humour (4 July 2007) and at the British Library on religion (3 September 2007).

In January 2009, after a break of twelve years, Miller returned to the English National Opera to direct his own production of ''La Bohème'', notable for its 1930s setting. This same production ran at the Cincinnati Opera in July 2010, also directed by Miller.

On 15 September 2010, Miller, along with 54 other public figures, signed an open letter published in ''The Guardian'', stating their opposition to Pope Benedict XVI's state visit to the UK. In April and May 2011, Miller directed Verdi's ''La Traviata'' in Vancouver, Canada, and in February and March 2012, Mozart's ''Cosi fan tutte'' in Washington DC, USA.

Personal life

Miller married Helen Rachel Collet in 1956. They have two sons and a daughter. He lives in Camden, North London. He is rather tall at 6' 4" (1.93 m).

Parodies and representations

''Private Eye'' (which had a falling-out with Miller) occasionally lampooned him under the name 'Dr Jonathan', depicting him as a Dr Johnson-like self-important man of learning.

The Beatles film ''Yellow Submarine'' features a parody of polymath intellectuals in general and Miller in particular: Jeremy Hilary Boob, who describes himself as an "eminent physicist, polyglot classicist, prize-winning botanist, hard-biting satirist, talented pianist, good dentist too."

The satirical television puppet show ''Spitting Image'' portrayed Miller as an anteater (lampooning his large nose), as well as featuring a segment entitled "Talking Bollocks" (the 'A' in 'Talking' combining with the 'ollo' in "Bollocks" below to create a penis), in which he discussed, with Bernard Levin, various cultural matters in a ridiculously pretentious way.

In the film for television ''Not Only But Always'' about the careers of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, Jonathan Aris played Jonathan Miller as a young man; Aris reprised the role in the BBC Radio 4 play ''Good Evening'' (2008) by Roy Smiles.

Along with the other members of ''Beyond the Fringe'', he is portrayed in the play ''Pete and Dud: Come Again'', by Chris Bartlett and Nick Awde.

Honours and awards

Special Tony Award (1963), with co-stars Alan Bennett, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, "for their brilliance which has shattered all the old concepts of comedy" in the musical revue ''Beyond the Fringe''.

Distinguished Supporter, British Humanist Association.

Honorary Associate, National Secular Society.

Honorary Fellow, University College London.

Honorary Fellow, Royal College of Art.

Associate member, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Honorary Fellow, St John's College, Cambridge (1982).

Honorary Fellow, Royal College of Physicians (London and Edinburgh).

Honorary D.Phil., University of Cambridge.

Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE; 1983).

Nomination: Best Director Tony Award (1986), for his revival of O'Neill's ''Long Day's Journey into Night''.

Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire (2002), for services to music and the arts.

Knighted for his services to the arts (2003).

Nominated artist of honour at Bornholm thanks to his instruction in Rønne Theater (Opera Island Bornholm; 2003).

Foreign Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

President, Rationalist Association (2006–present)

Bibliography

Books

(1994 Jonathan Cape [pop-up book]) (pop-up book intended for children) (The Applause Acting Series) (University Research Lecture Series No. 5) [collection of his photographs]

Editor

Contributor

– Jonathan Miller: '''King Lear'' in Rehearsal: A Talk' and seven other essays Essays by Jonathan Miller Geoffrey O'Brien, Charles Rosen, Tom Stoppard and Garry Wills

Introductions and forewords

(directors note) (introduction)

Filmography

Actor

''Beyond the Fringe'' (1964), TV version.

''One Way Pendulum'' (1964)

''Sensitive Skin'' (as "Dr Cass", 2 episodes, 2005)

Director

''Alice in Wonderland'' (1966; BBC television drama; Also writer and producer; Provides commentary track on DVD version)

''Whistle and I'll Come to You'' (1968; BBC television drama).

''BBC Television Shakespeare'' (1978–85):

*''The Taming of the Shrew'' (1980), starring John Cleese.

*''Timon of Athens'' (1981), starring Jonathan Pryce.

*''Antony and Cleopatra'' (1981), starring Colin Blakely.

*''Othello'' (1981), starring Anthony Hopkins and Bob Hoskins.

*''Troilus and Cressida'' (1981) .

*''King Lear'' (1982), starring Michael Hordern.

Presenter-writer

''Monitor'' (1962; also editor).

''The Body in Question'' (1979), 13 episodes.

''Equinox - Prisoner of Consciousness'' (1986)

''Born Talking: A Personal Inquiry into Language'' (1990).

''Madness'' (1991).

''Equinox - Moving Pictures'' (1991)

''Jonathan Miller's Opera Works'' (1997), 6 episodes.

''Jonathan Miller on Reflection'' (1998).

''Absolute Rubbish with Jonathan Miller'' (2004)

''Atheism: A Rough History of Disbelief'' (2004).

''The Atheism Tapes'' (2004).

Interviewee

Miller appears on the Puccini and Bach DVDs of this BBC series. In the Bach episode, he discusses his affection for the famous "Erbarme Dich" aria of the ''St Matthew Passion''. Miller appears in this one-hour program on the painter.

Selected stage productions

Musical revue

''Beyond the Fringe'' (performer, writer, producer; Edinburgh Festival; 1960).

''Beyond the Fringe'' (performer, writer; Fortune Theatre, London; 1961-62).

''Beyond the Fringe'' (performer, writer; John Golden Theatre. NYC; 27 October 1962 to 30 May 1964; 667 performances).

Oratorium

''St. Matthew Passion'' (Director; St. George's Theatre, London, February 1994) with Paul Goodwin. A dramatised production of J.S. Bach's masterpiece, recorded for BBC Television.This production was also revived at London's National Theatre in September/October 2011 with Southbank Sinfonia, conducted by Paul Goodwin.

Drama

''The Old Glory'' (Director; American Place Theatre, 1964) starring Frank Langella, Roscoe Lee Brown, and Lester Rawlins.

''The Merchant of Venice'' (Director; Cambridge Theatre, 1970) starring Laurence Olivier.

''Danton's Death'' (Director; 1972) starring Christopher Plummer.

''Long Day's Journey Into Night'' (Director; Broadhurst Theatre, 28 April to 29 June 1986; 54 performances).

''King Lear'' (Director; Vivian Beaumont Theatre 4 March to 18 April 2004; 33 performances).

''The Cherry Orchard'' (Director; Crucible Theatre, 2007). Miller's return to the English stage after a ten-year absence.

Opera

Over four decades, Miller has directed more than 50 operas in cities including London, New York, Florence, Milan, Berlin, Munich, Zurich, and Tokyo.

''Così fan tutte'' (Stage director; Kent Opera, 1974). The first of seven operas Miller directed for Kent Opera.

''Rigoletto'' (Stage director; 1975). Set in the 19th century.

''L'Orfeo'' (Stage director; Glyndebourne, 197?).

''Le nozze di Figaro'' (Stage director; English National Opera, 1978). A televised version was made in 1991.

''Rigoletto'' (Stage and video director; English National Opera, 1982). Set in 1950s Little Italy, Manhattan.

''La traviata'' (Stage director; Glimmerglass Opera, 1989).

''La fanciulla del West'' (Stage and video director; 1991).

''The Mikado'' (Stage and video director; English National Opera, 1987) starring Eric Idle.

''Le nozze di Figaro'' (Stage director and producer; Metropolitan Opera, 1998)

''Die Zauberflöte'' (Stage and video director; 2000).

''Tamerlano'' (Stage and video director; 2001).

''Die Entführung aus dem Serail'' (Stage and video director; 2003).

''Falstaff'' (Stage director; New National Theatre Tokyo, 2004).

''Jenůfa'' (Stage director; Glimmerglass Opera with New York City Opera in Cooperstown, New York, 29 July to 29 August 2006).

''L'Orfeo'' (Stage director; Manchester and Bristol productions, 2007).

''Der Rosenkavalier'' (Stage director; New National Theatre Tokyo, 2007).

''La traviata'' (Stage director; Glimmerglass Opera, 2009).

''La bohème'' (Stage director; Cincinnati Opera, 2010).

''Pelléas et Mélisande'' (Stage director; Metropolitan Opera, 2005 and 2010).

''La traviata'' (Director; Vancouver Opera, 2011 (scheduled)).

Miller's most recent opera productions in England were ''Cosi fan Tutte'' and ''Don Pasquale'' at the Royal Opera House (both revived in 2012) and ''La Boheme'' and ''L'Elisir d'Amore'' at the English National Opera. His production of ''Rigoletto'' at the ENO is still being revived after 28 years and his production of ''The Mikado'' is about to return in its 25th year. He continues to direct new operas and revivals in Europe and North America.

Museum and gallery exhibitions

Miller curated an exhibition on "Reflexion" (1998) at the National Gallery and one on "Motion in Art and Photography" at the Estorik Gallery in Islington.

Miller had three exhibitions of his own art work at Flowers East, the Boundary Gallery and at the Katz Gallery in Bond Street, London.

References

Further reading

Books about Miller

See also

National Secular Society

Rationalist Association

Las Meninas

External links

Production details, Theatre Archive, University of Bristol

Can English Satire Draw Blood?

Jonathan Miller bio. – Miller's agents

Audio: Jonathan Miller in conversation on the BBC World Service discussion show ''The Forum''

What the World Thinks of God

Jonathan Miller radio series on the origin of life – "Self Made Things"

A six-part history of Public Health in England (includes a spill-over interview series)

Jonathan Miller's choices on "Desert Island Discs"

Jonathan Miller's Brief History of Disbelief

Category:British theatre directors Category:1934 births Category:Living people Category:People from London Category:Academics of the University of Sussex Category:Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Category:Alumni of University College London Category:Atheism activists Category:British television presenters Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:British atheists Category:British humanists Category:British Jews Category:British satirists Category:British writers Category:Knights Bachelor Category:Jewish atheists Category:Materialists Category:Laurence Olivier Award winners Category:Opera directors Category:Tony Award winners

es:Jonathan Miller he:ג'ונתן מילר lt:Jonathan Miller

Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
name	Dylan Evans
birth date	September 29, 1966
birth place	UK
residence	Cork, Ireland
nationality	British
field	Behavioural science
work institution	University College Cork 2008- University of the West of England 2003-2006 University of Bath 2001-2003 King's College London 2000-2001
alma mater	London School of Economics Ph.D., 2000
doctoral advisor	John WorrallNicholas Humphrey
known for	Emotionplacebo
prizes	British Medical Association Medical Book Competition (2003)
religion	atheist
footnotes	}}

Dylan Evans (born 29 September 1966) is a British academic and author who has written books on emotion and the placebo effect as well as the theories of Jacques Lacan.

Life and career

Early life and education

Evans was born in Bristol on 29 September 1966 and went to school at Sevenoaks School and West Kent College of Further Education.

At Southampton University he studied Spanish and Linguistics and later he received his doctorate in philosophy from the London School of Economics.

Academic career

Evans worked at the University of Bath and the University of the West of England. Evans was a psychoanalyst in the style of Jacques Lacan, and wrote a standard reference work in the field. Evans eventually came to doubt the scientific validity of Lacanianism, and ultimately abandoned the field because he was worried Lacanianism harmed rather than helped patients. Evans resigned from the position of senior lecturer at the University of the West of England to start a project in sustainable living called the Utopia Experiment.

Evans is a Lecturer in Behavioural Science in the School of Medicine at University College Cork. In 2010 the university gave him the "President's Award for Research on Innovative Forms of Teaching" for his Cork Science Cafe project (together with colleague Catherine O'Mahony).

Risk intelligence is one of his research areas.

On September 15, 2010, Evans, along with 54 other public figures, signed an open letter published in The Guardian, stating their opposition to Pope Benedict XVI's state visit to the UK.

In spring 2010 Evans was accused of sexual harassment of a colleague Salerno Kennedy, by showing her a published article about oral sex among fruit bats. His employer imposed a "two-year period of monitoring and appraisal under the university’s duty of respect and 'right to dignity' policy," leading Evans to mount a campaign, attracting more than 3000 petition signatures, defending the principle of freedom of expression. In the course of the campaign, confidential documents were leaked, and UCC launched disciplinary action against Evans for alleged breach of confidentiality. Disciplinary proceedings were halted when Evans applied for judicial review at the Irish High Court. On 1 December 2010 the High Court quashed the sanctions imposed on Evans by the President of UCC, which the judge described as "grossly disproportionate", and awarded costs to Evans. The Court upheld the original finding of harassment, but the judge pointed out that "there can be different forms of sexual harassment, ranging from highly objectionable to mildly objectionable" and that "this was at the very lower end of the scale in this case." UCC responded by issuing a statement stating that they were satisfied with the High Court's decision to uphold the original harassment finding, and they declared their intention to proceed with disciplinary proceedings against Evans for alleged breach of confidence.

He is an atheist and a supporter of the British Humanist Association.

The ''Utopia Experiment''

He spent a while running the "Utopia Experiment" in the Highlands of Scotland. This was to be a self-sufficient group of people growing their own food, with no television and limited use of electricity for eighteen months.

Selected publications

Books

''Emotion, Evolution and Rationality'' (2004)

''Placebo: The Belief Effect'' (2003)

''Introducing Evolution'' (2001)

''Emotion: The Science of Sentiment'' (2001)

''Introducing Evolutionary Psychology'' (1999)

''An Introductory Dictionary of Lacanian Psychoanalysis'' (1996)

References

External links

Homepage

Read Dylan Evans's articles in the 5th Estate blog

Category:1966 births Category:Living people Category:Academics of King's College London Category:Academics at University College Cork Category:English psychologists Category:British psychoanalysts Category:Evolutionary psychologists Category:English atheists Category:English humanists Category:British expatriates in Ireland Category:British scientists Category:Old Sennockians

Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
region	Western Philosophy
era	20th / 21st-century philosophy
color	#B0C4DE
name	Daniel Clement Dennett
birth date	March 28, 1942
birth place	Boston, Massachusetts
school tradition	Analytic philosophy
main interests	Philosophy of mindPhilosophy of biologyPhilosophy of scienceCognitive science
notable ideas	HeterophenomenologyIntentional stanceIntuition pumpMultiple Drafts ModelGreedy reductionism
alma mater	Harvard University (B.A.)University of Oxford (D.Phil.)
influences	Gilbert Ryle W. V. QuineWilfrid Sellars Wittgenstein Charles Darwin David Hume Alan Turing Richard Dawkins
influenced	Richard Dawkins Douglas Hofstadter Geoffrey Miller }}

Daniel Clement Dennett (born March 28, 1942) is an American philosopher, writer and cognitive scientist whose research centers on the philosophy of mind, philosophy of science and philosophy of biology, particularly as those fields relate to evolutionary biology and cognitive science. He is currently the Co-director of the Center for Cognitive Studies, the Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy, and a University Professor at Tufts University. Dennett is a firm atheist and secularist, a member of the Secular Coalition for America advisory board, as well as an outspoken supporter of the Brights movement. Dennett is referred to as one of the "Four Horsemen of New Atheism," along with Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens.

Early life and education

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Dennett spent part of his childhood in Lebanon, where, during World War II, his father was a covert counter-intelligence agent with the Office of Strategic Services posing as a cultural attaché to the American Embassy in Beirut. When he was five, his mother took him back to Massachusetts after his father died in an unexplained plane crash. His sister is the investigative journalist Charlotte Dennett.

He attended Phillips Exeter Academy and spent one year at Wesleyan University before receiving his Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Harvard University in 1963, where he was a student of W. V. Quine. In 1965, he received his Doctor of Philosophy in philosophy from the University of Oxford, where he studied under Gilbert Ryle and was a member of Hertford College.

Academic career

As of April 2009, Dennett is the Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy, University Professor, and Co-Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies (with Ray Jackendoff) at Tufts University.

Dennett describes himself as "an autodidact — or, more properly, the beneficiary of hundreds of hours of informal tutorials on all the fields that interest me, from some of the world's leading scientists."

He is the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship, two Guggenheim Fellowships, and a Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Studies in Behavioral Science. He is a Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and a Humanist Laureate of the International Academy of Humanism. He was named 2004 Humanist of the Year by the American Humanist Association.

In February 2010 he was named to the Freedom From Religion Foundation's Honorary Board of distinguished achievers.

Free will

While he is a confirmed compatibilist on free will, in "On Giving Libertarians What They Say They Want" — Chapter 15 of his 1978 book ''Brainstorms,'' Dennett articulated the case for a two-stage model of decision making in contrast to libertarian views.

The model of decision making I am proposing has the following feature: when we are faced with an important decision, a consideration-generator whose output is to some degree undetermined produces a series of considerations, some of which may of course be immediately rejected as irrelevant by the agent (consciously or unconsciously). Those considerations that are selected by the agent as having a more than negligible bearing on the decision then figure in a reasoning process, and if the agent is in the main reasonable, those considerations ultimately serve as predictors and explicators of the agent's final decision.

While other philosophers have developed two-stage models, including William James, Henri Poincaré, Arthur Holly Compton, and Henry Margenau, Dennett defends this model for the following reasons:

These prior and subsidiary decisions contribute, I think, to our sense of ourselves as responsible free agents, roughly in the following way: I am faced with an important decision to make, and after a certain amount of deliberation, I say to myself: "That's enough. I've considered this matter enough and now I'm going to act," in the full knowledge that I could have considered further, in the full knowledge that the eventualities may prove that I decided in error, but with the acceptance of responsibility in any case.

Leading libertarian philosophers such as Robert Kane have rejected Dennett's model, specifically that random chance is directly involved in a decision, on the basis that they believe this eliminates the agent's motives and reasons, character and values, and feelings and desires. They claim that, if chance is the primary cause of decisions, then agents cannot be liable for resultant actions. Kane says:

[As Dennett admits,] a causal indeterminist view of this deliberative kind does not give us everything libertarians have wanted from free will. For [the agent] does not have complete control over what chance images and other thoughts enter his mind or influence his deliberation. They simply come as they please. [The agent] does have some control ''after'' the chance considerations have occurred.

But then there is no more chance involved. What happens from then on, how he reacts, is ''determined'' by desires and beliefs he already has. So it appears that he does not have control in the ''libertarian'' sense of what happens after the chance considerations occur as well. Libertarians require more than this for full responsibility and free will.

Other philosophical views

Dennett has remarked in several places (such as "Self-portrait", in ''Brainchildren'') that his overall philosophical project has remained largely the same since his time at Oxford. He is primarily concerned with providing a philosophy of mind that is grounded in empirical research. In his original dissertation, ''Content and Consciousness'', he broke up the problem of explaining the mind into the need for a theory of content and for a theory of consciousness. His approach to this project has also stayed true to this distinction. Just as ''Content and Consciousness'' has a bipartite structure, he similarly divided ''Brainstorms'' into two sections. He would later collect several essays on content in ''The Intentional Stance'' and synthesize his views on consciousness into a unified theory in ''Consciousness Explained''. These volumes respectively form the most extensive development of his views.

In ''Consciousness Explained'', Dennett's interest in the ability of evolution to explain some of the content-producing features of consciousness is already apparent, and this has since become an integral part of his program. He defends a theory known by some as Neural Darwinism. He also presents an argument against qualia; he argues that the concept is so confused that it cannot be put to any use or understood in any non-contradictory way, and therefore does not constitute a valid refutation of physicalism. Much of Dennett's work since the 1990s has been concerned with fleshing out his previous ideas by addressing the same topics from an evolutionary standpoint, from what distinguishes human minds from animal minds (''Kinds of Minds''), to how free will is compatible with a naturalist view of the world (''Freedom Evolves''). In his 2006 book, ''Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon'', Dennett attempts to subject religious belief to the same treatment, explaining possible evolutionary reasons for the phenomenon of religious adherence.

Dennett self-identifies with a few terms:

Yet, in ''Consciousness Explained'', he admits "I am a sort of 'teleofunctionalist', of course, perhaps the original teleofunctionalist'". He goes on to say, "I am ready to come out of the closet as some sort of verificationist". In ''Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon'' he admits to being "a bright", and defends the term.

Role in evolutionary debate

Dennett sees evolution by natural selection as an algorithmic process (though he spells out that algorithms as simple as long division often incorporate a significant degree of randomness). This idea is in conflict with the evolutionary philosophy of paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould, who preferred to stress the "pluralism" of evolution (i.e. its dependence on many crucial factors, of which natural selection is only one).

Dennett's views on evolution are identified as being strongly adaptationist, in line with his theory of the intentional stance, and the evolutionary views of biologist Richard Dawkins. In ''Darwin's Dangerous Idea'', Dennett showed himself even more willing than Dawkins to defend adaptationism in print, devoting an entire chapter to a criticism of the ideas of Gould. This stems from Gould's long-running public debate with E. O. Wilson and other evolutionary biologists over human sociobiology and its descendant evolutionary psychology, which Gould and Richard Lewontin opposed, but which Dennett advocated, together with Dawkins and Steven Pinker. Strong disagreements have been launched against Dennett from Gould and his supporters, who allege that Dennett overstated his claims and misrepresented Gould's to reinforce what Gould describes as Dennett's "Darwinian fundamentalism".

Dennett's theories have had a significant influence on the work of evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller. He has also written about and advocated the notion of memetics as a philosophically useful tool, most recently in his "Brains, Computers, and Minds," a three part presentation through Harvard's MBB 2009 Distinguished Lecture Series.

He has recently been doing research into clerics who are secretly atheists and how they rationalize their works. He found what he called a "Don't ask, don't tell" conspiracy because believers did not want to hear of loss of faith. That made unbelieving preachers feel isolated but they did not want to lose their jobs and sometimes their church-supplied lodgings and generally consoled themselves that they were doing good in their pastoral roles by providing comfort and required ritual. The research, with Linda LaScola, was further extended to include other denominations and non-Christian clerics.

Personal life

Dennett lives with his wife in North Andover, Massachusetts, and has a daughter, a son, and three grandchildren. He is also an avid sailor.

In October 2006, Dennett was hospitalized due to an aortic dissection. After a nine-hour surgery, he was given a new aorta. In an essay posted on the Edge website, Dennett gives his firsthand account of his health problems, his consequent feelings of gratitude towards the scientists, cardiologist, surgeons, EMT's, phlebotomists, orderlies, housekeepers, physician assistants, X-ray technicians, meal-bringers, launderers, physical therapists, perfusionist, neurologist, and nurses whose hard work made his recovery possible, and his complete lack of a "deathbed conversion". By his account, upon having been told by friends and relatives that they had prayed for him, he resisted the urge to ask them, "Did you also sacrifice a goat?"

Selected books

''Brainstorms: Philosophical Essays on Mind and Psychology'' (MIT Press 1981) (ISBN 0-262-54037-1)

''Elbow Room: The Varieties of Free Will Worth Wanting'' (MIT Press 1984) — on free will and determinism (ISBN 0-262-04077-8)

''The Mind's I'' (Bantam, Reissue edition 1985, with Douglas Hofstadter) (ISBN 0-553-34584-2)

''Content and Consciousness'' (Routledge & Kegan Paul Books Ltd; 2nd ed. January 1986) (ISBN 0-7102-0846-4)

(First published 1987)

''Consciousness Explained'' (Back Bay Books 1992) (ISBN 0-316-18066-1)

''Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life'' (Simon & Schuster; reprint edition 1996) (ISBN 0-684-82471-X)

''Kinds of Minds: Towards an Understanding of Consciousness'' (Basic Books 1997) (ISBN 0-465-07351-4)

''Brainchildren: Essays on Designing Minds (Representation and Mind)'' (MIT Press 1998) (ISBN 0-262-04166-9) — A Collection of Essays 1984–1996

''Freedom Evolves'' (Viking Press 2003) (ISBN 0-670-03186-0)

''Sweet Dreams: Philosophical Obstacles to a Science of Consciousness'' (MIT Press 2005) (ISBN 0-262-04225-8)

''Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon'' (Penguin Group 2006) (ISBN 0-670-03472-X).

''Neuroscience and Philosophy: Brain, Mind, and Language'' (Columbia University Press 2007) (ISBN 978-0-231-14044-7), co-authored with Maxwell Bennett, Peter Hacker, and John Searle

''Science and Religion'' (Oxford University Press 2010) (ISBN 0-199-73842-4), co-authored with Alvin Plantinga

See also

''The Atheism Tapes''

Cartesian materialism

''Conscious Robots''

Evolutionary psychology of religion

Greedy reductionism

Geoffrey Miller

Heterophenomenology

Intentional stance

List of Jean Nicod Prize laureates

Memetics

Multiple drafts theory of consciousness

Philosophy of Religion

American philosophy

List of American philosophers

Further reading

John Brockman (1995). ''The Third Culture''. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-80359-3 (Discusses Dennett and others).

Daniel C. Dennett (1997), "Chapter 3. True Believers: The Intentional Strategy and Why it Works", in John Haugeland, ''Mind Design II: Philosophy, Psychology, Artificial Intelligence''. Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ISBN 0-262-08259-4 (reprint of 1981 publication).

Andrew Brook and Don Ross (editors) (2000). ''Daniel Dennett''. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-00864-6

Don Ross, Andrew Brook and David Thompson (editors) (2000) ''Dennett's Philosophy: A Comprehensive Assessment'' Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-18200-9

John Symons (2000) ''On Dennett''. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company. ISBN 0-534-57632-X

Matthew Elton (2003). Dennett: Reconciling Science and Our Self-Conception. Cambridge, U.K: Polity Press. ISBN 0-7456-2117-1

P.M.S. Hacker and M.R. Bennett (2003) ''Philosophical Foundations of Neuroscience''. Oxford, and Malden, Mass: Blackwell ISBN 1-4051-0855-X (Has an appendix devoted to a strong critique of Dennett's philosophy of mind)

Notes

References

External links

Inside Jokes Using Humor to Reverse-Engineer the Mind Matthew M. Hurley, Daniel C. Dennett and Reginald B. Adams, Jr atThe MIT Press

Faculty webpage

Daniel C. Dennett at Internet Movie Database

Scientific American Frontiers Profile: Daniel Dennett 2000-12-19

Searchable bibliography of Dennett's works

Daniel Dennett on Information Philosopher

; Media

Edge/Third Culture: Daniel C. Dennett

Daniel Dennett multimedia files

Profile at TED several videos on dangerous memes, consciousness, others

Radio interview on ''Philosophy Talk'' 2006-01-17

The Nature of Knowledge Lecture at the University of Edinburgh 2006-03-14

On Preaching and Teaching ''The Science Network'' interview with Daniel Dennett 2007-11-02

''The Moscow Center for Consciousness Studies'' video interview with Daniel Dennett 2010-03-05

Category:1942 births Category:20th-century philosophers Category:21st-century philosophers Category:American atheists Category:American philosophers Category:Analytic philosophers Category:Atheist philosophers Category:Atheism activists Category:Cognitive scientists Category:Consciousness researchers and theorists Category:Phillips Exeter Academy alumni Category:Wesleyan University alumni Category:Harvard University alumni Category:Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Category:Living people Category:Memetics Category:People from Boston, Massachusetts Category:Philosophers of mind Category:Philosophers of religion Category:Philosophers of science Category:Tufts University faculty Category:Fellows of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence Category:Jean Nicod Prize laureates Category:American non-fiction writers Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Category:Evolutionary psychologists Category:American skeptics Category:American humanists

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