Humans As Rational Animals
Philosopher Daniel Dennet talks about the argument that humans are unique because we are rational. Professor Dennett points out examples of other animals which are also capable of taking actions based on rationality. The difference, he notes, is tha...
Reason, Reflection and Language
Philosopher Daniel Dennett talks about the power of language. He observes that it is language that gives humans the ability to look into the future, as well as to reflect and reason in ways other organisms cannot.
Replication
Philosopher Daniel Dennett talks about the importance of self-reproduction. When conditions are just right, he observes, collections of molecules can make copies of themselves. According to Professor Dennett, this starts a snow-balling process which...
Natural Selection and Differential Reproduction
Philosopher Daniel Dennett talks about differential reproduction, which he says is the key idea of natural selection. With differential reproduction, some copies of the original are a little less perfect than others. Those that are less perfect tend...
Is Mind Distinct from Body?: Reductionism and Consciousness
The subjective first-person nature of conscious experience resists being explained in objective third-person terms. There may be objective things going on in the brain, but what is truly interesting is what happens subjectively. Materialists compare...
Are Humans Unique?
Philosopher Daniel Dennett talks about ways in which we are similar to other primates, as well as ways in which we are different. One major difference is that our brains are capable of performing operations that result in language and culture, which...
What is Human Nature?: Biology's Challenge to Traditional Western View of Human Nature
In the 17th and 18th centuries, scientists are fascinated with collecting specimens and classifying species. However, It will be Charles Darwin who creates a new picture of nature. In the 1830s he travels to the Galapagos Islands to research both li...
Is Mind Distinct from Body?: Distinctions Between Computers and the Human Mind
In his 1972 book What Computers Still Can't Do Hubert Dreyfus points out capacities of the mind computers fail to match such as a sense of relevance and common sense. What computers can do is spread the computational load over time and operate with ...
Is Mind Distinct from Body?: Gilbert Ryle and Logical Behaviorism
With the emergence of the science of psychology in the 20th century, it is believed that thoughts and feelings can be translated into objective units scientists can observe. One advocate, British philosopher Gilbert Ryle who wrote a famous put-down ...
What is Human Nature?: How Language Makes Human Life Distinctive
If human nature is not different from the rest of the nature, then why is human existence so different? Language. Language allows humans to organize efforts that require social cooperation, book writing, and the passage of history from generation to...