An Analysis Of Daniel Dennett s Consciousness - 1821 Words

Introduction As our scientific paradigm has shifted towards a materialist account of the world, many thinkers believe that appeals to the supernatural cannot provide truth. Consequently, beliefs that had once been considered adequate must now be reworked if not torn down entirely to fit this new world view. Daniel Dennett’s book Consciousness Explained attempts to provide an account of our internal experience (i.e. Consciousness) that is rooted in the materialist world view. Though he is not the first to undertake this project, he takes issue with what he perceives to be the popular materialist account of consciousness, and seeks promote his own theory. With this essay I aim to offer an informative summary of the book followed by an evaluative dialogue of its central claims. Dismissal of Dualism Before introducing his theory Dennett offers a brief dismissal of Dualism. Dualism is the belief that there exists along with the body an immaterial soul. Depending on the variation of Dualism, the soul either contributes to or produces what we perceive to be conscious experience. Dennett takes issue with this view through inspection of the body’s interaction with the soul. He argues that the soul being an immaterial entity shouldn’t have any causal relationship with the material body. The aforementioned argument is grounded in empirical observation. As far as we know there isn’t any evidence of unobservable material thing having causal interaction with the material world.Show MoreRelatedReview Of Dennett s Quining Qualia 1562 Words   |  7 PagesDennett’s â€Å"Quining Qualia† Daniel Dennett looks to quine qualia, or completely disprove their existence, in â€Å"Quining Qualia.† He is successful in creating a theoretical framework by which many intuitive arguments for qualia can be struck down. Because of his success, an argument from introspection is difficult to make; Dennett seems to successfully refute many of the arguments given by intuition or folk psychology. I will adopt Eugene Park’s criticism in critiquing Dennett, showing that an argumentRead MoreBranches of Philosophy8343 Words   |  34 Pagesreconciling the diversity and change of the natural universe, with the possibility of obtaining fixed and certain knowledge about it; questions about things which cannot be perceived by the senses, such as numbers, elements, universals, and gods; the analysis of patterns of reasoning and argument; the nature of the good life and the importance of understanding and knowledge in order to pursue it; the explication of the concept of justice, and its relation to various political systems[8]. In this period