Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanins of Life

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Simon and Schuster, Jun 12, 1996 - Philosophy - 586 pages
In this groundbreaking and very accessible book, Daniel C. Dennett, the acclaimed author of Consciousness Explained, demonstrates the power of the theory of natural selection and shows how Darwin's great idea transforms and illuminates our traditional view of our place in the universe. Following Darwinian thinking to its logical conclusions is a risky business, with pitfalls for everybody. Creationists and others who reject evolution are not the only ones to fall into the traps. Many who accept the validity of Darwin's conclusions hesitate before their implications and distort his theory, fearful that it is politically incorrect or antireligious, or that it robs life of all spirituality. Dennett explains the scientific theory of natural selection in vivid terms, and shows how it extends far beyond biology.
 

Contents

Preface
11
CHAPTER
17
CHAPTER
35
Natural Selection as an Algorithmic Process
48
CHAPTER THREE
61
The Principle of the Accumulation of Design
68
Whos Afraid of Reductionism?
80
CHAPTER FOUR
85
CHAPTER ELEVEN
313
Teilhard Lamarck and Directed
320
MIND MEANING MATHEMATICS AND MORALITY
333
Invasion of the BodySnatchers
342
Could There Be a Science of Memetics?
352
The Philosophical Importance of Memes
361
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
370
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
401

CHAPTER FIVE
104
The Complex Relation Between Genome and Organism
113
CHAPTER
124
DARWINIAN THINKING IN BIOLOGY
147
CHAPTER EIGHT
187
CHAPTER NINE
229
CHAPTER
262
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
428
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
453
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
494
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
511
Appendix
523
Index
551
Copyright

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About the author (1996)

Daniel Dennett is the author of Brainstorms, Elbow Room, and Consciousness Explained. He is currently the Distinguished Arts and Sciences Professor and Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University. He lives in North Andover, Massachusetts, with his wife and has two children.