Humanist profile: Daniel C. Dennett (1942-present) 2004 Humanist of the Year."We are all around you: we're doctors, nurses, police officers, schoolteachers, crossing guards and men and women serving in the military.... Among scientists, we are a commanding majority.... We are, in fact, the moral backbone of the nation ... precisely because [we] don't trust God to save humanity from its follies." --Daniel C. Dennett, "The Bright Stuff" in the New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times, July 12, 2003 Daniel C. Dennett was born in Boston, Massachusetts “Boston” redirects here. For other uses, see Boston (disambiguation). Boston is the capital and most populous city of Massachusetts.[3] The largest city in New England, Boston is considered the unofficial economic and cultural center of the entire New , on March 28, 1942. He earned his B.A. in philosophy from Harvard University Harvard University, mainly at Cambridge, Mass., including Harvard College, the oldest American college. Harvard College Harvard College, originally for men, was founded in 1636 with a grant from the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. in 1963 and, two years later, received his doctorate in philosophy under the guidance of the philosopher Gilbert Ryle Gilbert Ryle (born August 19, 1900 in Brighton, died October 6, 1976 in Oxford), was a philosopher, and a representative of the generation of British ordinary language philosophers influenced by Wittgenstein's insights into language, and is principally known for his critique of at Oxford University. Then from 1965 to 1971 Dennett taught at the University of California The University of California has a combined student body of more than 191,000 students, over 1,340,000 living alumni, and a combined systemwide and campus endowment of just over $7.3 billion (8th largest in the United States). . Since that time he has taught mainly at Tufts University--being Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies--with occasional visits to other universities around the globe. Dennett's interests are focused primarily on the philosophy of mind and philosophy of science. He has authored over 200 scholarly papers along with several books that have received both academic and critical acclaim: Content and Consciousness (1969), Brainstorms (1978), Consciousness Explained (1991), Darwin's Dangerous Idea (1995), Kinds of Minds (1996), Brainchildren: A Collection of Essays 1984-1996 (1998), Freedom Evolves (2003), and Sweet Dreams: Philosophical Obstacles to a Science of Consciousness (2005). His latest book, Breaking the Spell'. Religion as a Natural Phenomenon, contains a chapter developed out of his Humanist of the Year Award acceptance speech of 2004. Among the challenging philosophical and scientific problems that Dennett explores are the relationship between unconscious matter and conscious experience, the evolution of our complex brains, and the nature of mind. He has also worked on the evolutionary and cognitive basis for religious belief. His work has made him one of the most influential philosophers of our time and has earned him two Guggenheim fellowships, a Fulbright fellowship, a fellowship at the Center for Advanced Studies in behavioral science behavioral science n. A scientific discipline, such as sociology, anthropology, or psychology, in which the actions and reactions of humans and animals are studied through observational and experimental methods. , and an election to the American Academy of Sciences. Like many prominent biologists and philosophers, Dennett hasn't been shy about his skepticism of religion and his devotion to a scientific worldview world·view n. In both senses also called Weltanschauung. 1. The overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world. 2. A collection of beliefs about life and the universe held by an individual or a group. , often stepping into the current U.S. "culture war" to defend the role of science and reason. To him, the increasing influence of the religious right represents a worrying and dangerous trend. And in 2003 he wrote a piece for the New York Times defending his naturalistic view, arguing that we need to end discrimination against nontheists and political pandering to the religious right. He has since been active in Humanist causes, persuading more and more closeted clos·et·ed adj. Being In a state of secrecy or cautious privacy. Humanists to speak out in favor of tolerance, respect for humanity, and freedom from religious oppression. |
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