Product Description

In a book that is both groundbreaking and accessible, Daniel C. Dennett, whom Chet Raymo of The Boston Globe calls "one of the most provocative thinkers on the planet," focuses his unerringly logical mind on the theory of natural selection, showing how Darwin's great idea transforms and illuminates our traditional view of humanity's place in the universe. Dennett vividly describes the theory itself and then extends Darwin's vision with impeccable arguments to their often surprising conclusions, challenging the views of some of the most famous scientists of our day.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16076 in Books
• Published on: 1996-06-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 586 pages

Amazon.com Review
One of the best descriptions of the nature and implications of Darwinian evolution ever written, it is firmly based in biological information and appropriately extrapolated to possible applications to engineering and cultural evolution. Dennett's analyses of the objections to evolutionary theory are unsurpassed. Extremely lucid, wonderfully written, and scientifically and philosophically impeccable. Highest Recommendation!

From Publishers Weekly
Dennett's philosophical argument in support of Darwinism was a National Book Award finalist.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Dennett, the author of Consciousness Explained (Little, Brown, 1991) and director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University, challenges us to examine Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection with renewed, emphatic vigor. Current controversies associated with the origin of life, sociobiology, punctuated equilibrium, the evolution of culture and language, and evolutionary ethics are investigated rigorously within the context of Darwinian science and philosophy. Dennett challenges the ideas of several imminent scientists, including Roger Penrose and Stephen Jay Gould, who, Dennett asserts, tend to limit the power or implications of Darwin's dangerous ideas. Gould's influential publications have contributed to a seriously distorted perception of evolutionary biology, according to Dennett. As he explores issues of morality and consciousness, Dennett essentially extends the theories of natural selection far beyond the biological disciplines. Dennett's assertions and ideas stimulate. Enthusiastically recommended for scholars, specialists, and informed lay readers.
-?Donald G. Frank, Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Must read!
Think about life as we know it.
Now think about a book that can convincingly explain it as an algorithm and... well, nothing more!
Now imagine the same book capable to thrill, amuse and inspire the reader about science, human values, ethics, consciousness, artificial intelligence and more; This is 'Darwin's dangeorus idea' : quite simply a fundamental book about the sheer beauty, simplicity, reach and mind-blowing implications of the theory of evolution by Darwin. It is firmly in my all time top ten book list.

More a critique than anything else
To fully grasp Dennett's arguments in "Darwin's Dangerous Idea", lots of preparatory reading is required on various authors and topics including, but not limited to: Stephen Jay Gould whom the author targets his most scathing criticisms of, Gould's colleague, Richard Lewontin, American linguist and philosopher, Noam Chomsky, mathematical physicist, Roger Penrose, cognitive scientist, Jerry Fodor, adaptationism and gradualism, reductionism, saltationism, memetics etc. Dennett spends little time in introducing the reader to the works of these authors and their ideas, and instead, debunks anything and everything that attempts to weaken Darwin's natural selection theory.

In a heated and publicized exchange resulting largely from Dennett's attack on Gould with an entire chapter of "Darwin's Dangerous Idea" devoted to discrediting him, Gould, who is considered the foremost authority on espousing the views on evolution called Dennett a "Darwinian Fundamentalist" who has reduced biological and cultural evolution to a largely mindless algorithmic process.

Dennett introduces two new metaphors of cranes and skyhooks which he uses repeatedly in his arguments. Cranes are the lifting mechanisms facilitating the design of organisms. They are grounded and explainable. Skyhooks are imaginary, unsupported and supposedly capable of advancing organisms in leaps and bounds in unexplainable ways. Dennett morphs some of the ideas of his detractors into skyhooks, and because skyhooks cannot exist, they have to be either falsehoods or reduced to cranes.

The subtitle of "Darwin's Dangerous Idea" is "Evolution and the Meanings of Life", but throughout the 500 plus pages, Dennett dabbles in hostile territory, unapologetically attacking critics of natural selection as the primary engine of evolution. Perhaps this book should have been divided into two parts; one titled "Evolution and the Meanings of Life", and the other, "Duel of the Titans."

Complex and Entertaining
While Dennett comes off, at times, sounding pompous and headstrong, that may simply be because he is, in my opinion, correct about certain aspects of the human mind's ability to cope with conflicting beliefs. My personal religious beliefs aside, I do feel that, at a point, religion and evolutionary science do come into direct conflict. Some of Dennett's thoughts and ideas, in conjunction with Dawkins's ideas, can run a little wayward of what I would call science, but simply because the ideas are blended with speculation and opinion. For further reading on the evolutionary perspective of religious thought, I would recommend Scott Atran and Pascal Boyer. Again, I really enjoyed the book, my personal disagreements notwithstanding.