Daniel C. Dennett, Widely Read and Fiercely Debated Philosopher, 82, Dies
Espousing his ideas in best sellers, he insisted that religion was an illusion, free will was a fantasy and evolution could only be explained by natural selection.
From the New York Time obituary:
“All varieties of perception — indeed all varieties of thought or mental activity — are accomplished in the brain by parallel, multitrack processes of interpretation and elaboration of sensory inputs,” he wrote. “Information entering the nervous system is under continuous ‘editorial revision.’”
By the 1990s, Mr. Dennett had increasingly sought to explain the development of the brain — and illusions of a separate consciousness and free will — in terms of the evolution of human beings from other animal life.
He believed that natural selection was the overwhelming factor in this evolution. And he insisted that physical and behavioral traits of organisms evolved primarily through their beneficial effects on survival or reproduction, thus enhancing an organism’s fitness in its environment.
From Ars Technica
Mourning a philosophical giant — Daniel Dennett, philosophical giant who championed “naturalism,” dead at 82
From The Guardian
Obituary Daniel Dennett – Controversial US philosopher who sought to understand and explain the science of the mind
