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Philosopher Daniel Dennett to Talk about "Darwin and the Evolution of Reasons"01:28PM / Tuesday, September 22, 2009
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - The prominent American philosopher Daniel C. Dennett will present a lecture, titled "Darwin and the Evolution of Reasons" at Williams College. The event will take place on Thursday, Sept. 24 at 8 p.m. in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall on the college campus.
Dennett is the Austin B. Fletcher professor of philosophy and co-director of the Center of Cognitive Studies at Tufts University.
He was co-founder and co-director of the Curricular Software Studio at Tufts, and has helped to design museum exhibits on computers for the Smithsonian Institution, the Museum of Science in Boston, and the Computer Museum in Boston.
His research focuses on the philosophy of the mind, philosophy of science, and philosophy of biology, particularly as those fields relate to evolutionary biology and cognitive science.
He is interested in evolution and its ability to explain some of the content-producing features in human consciousness, and supports a theory, called "Neural Darwinism."
Dennett is author of more than 300 journal articles. His most recent books are "Breaking the Spell, Religion as a Natural Phenomenon" (2006), and "Sweet Dreams: Philosophical Obstacles to a Science of Consciousness" (2005). He co-edited "The Mind's I" (1981 with Douglas Hofstadter). In his book "Darwin's Dangerous Idea" (1995), Dennett supports the view of evolution being a process of adaptation and algorithm.
He is the recipient of the Humanist of the Year (2004), Bertrand Russell Society Award, and the Academy of Achievement Golden Plate Award (2004), among others.
He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Science in 1987 and has been awarded honorary degrees from McGill University, Edinburgh, and the University of Connecticut. He received his B.A. from Harvard University in 1963, and his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Oxford in 1965.
The lecture is sponsored by the Oakley Center for the Humanities and Social Sciences and the Richmond Lecture Fund. |
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