Daniel C. Dennett

El examen del problema del libre albedrío muestra que muchas de las profundas dudas acerca de su posibilidad no son más que preocupaciones académicas que guardan poca o ninguna relación con la conciencia de nuestros actos, elecciones y posibilidades. Las normas de la interaccion social, las instancias ajenas y subjetivas de control de la conducta y, sobre todo, el hecho fundamental de que toda eleccion implica la exclusion de otra, son fenomenos que dejan un margen bastante estrecho a la libertad. Pero, ¿tiene sentido que nos desesperemos por no poder anular el pasado, por no poder prevenir ciertos acontecimientos presentes o por no poder crearnos a partir de la nada ni elegir dos alternativas a la vez? En este texto provocador y refrescante, Daniel C. Dennett desmitifica y reafirma las posibilidades de la libertad, subrayando tres condiciones basicas de toda decision: ser libre, racional y responsable. La necesaria conexion de estos tres terminos deja claro que no es tanto la libertad lo que esta en juego, sino nuestro deseo de alcanzarla dentro de sus condiciones de posibilidad.

Se trata de todas aquellas manifestaciones que forman parte del "sentido común", es decir, creencias, esperanzas, deseos, etc.

A generous book written by a figure who has made a significant impact on philosophy Anyone interested in philosophy should read it Nigel Warburton Times Literary Supplement One of today s most readable intellectually nimble and scientifically literate philosophers Nature Who would have guessed that a philosopher s life could be so full of adventures Daniel C Dennett philosopher and cognitive scientist has spent his career considering consciousness I ve Been Thinking traces the development of Dennett s own intellect and instructs us how we too can become good thinkers Dennett s restless curiosity leads him from his childhood in Beirut to Harvard and from Parisian jazz clubs to tillosophy on his tractor in Maine Along the way he encounters and debates with a host of legendary thinkers and reveals the breakthroughs and misjudgments that shaped his paradigm shifting philosophies Thinking Dennett argues is hard and risky In fact all good philosophical thinking is inevitably accompanied by bafflement frustration and self doubt It is only in getting it wrong that we very occasionally find a way to get it right This memoir by one of the greatest philosophers of our time will speak to anyone who seeks a life of the mind with adventure and creativi

Combinando ideas provenientes de la filosofía, la inteligencia artificial y la neurobiología, Daniel Dennett guía al lector por un fascinante viaje de investigación, explorando posibilidades tan llamativas como las siguientes: ¿Puede cualquiera de nosotros saber lo que pasa por la mente de otra persona? ¿Que es lo que diferencia la mente humana de las mentes animales, sobre todo de aquellos capaces de manifestar conductas complejas?...

Required reading for anyone remotely curious about how they came to be remotely curious Observer Enthralling Spectator What is human consciousness and how is it possible These questions fascinate thinking people from poets and painters to physicists psychologists and philosophers This is Daniel C Dennett s brilliant answer extending perspectives from his earlier work in surprising directions exploring the deep interactions of evolution brains and human culture Part philosophical whodunnit part bold scientific conjecture this landmark work enlarges themes that have sustained Dennett s career at the forefront of philosophical thought In his inimitable style laced with wit and thought experiments Dennett shows how culture enables reflection by installing a profusion of thinking tools or memes in our brains and how language turbocharges this process The result a mind that can comprehend the questions it poses has emerged from a process of cultural evolution An agenda setting book for a new generation of philosophers and thinkers From Bacteria to Bach and Back is essential for anyone who hopes to understand human creativity in all its applications