

Dennett makes this case on the basis that natural selection is a blind process, which is nevertheless sufficiently powerful to explain the evolution of life. The crux of the argument is that, whether or not Darwin's theories are overturned, there is no going back from the dangerous idea that design (purpose or what something is for) might not need a designer. His books include Brainstorms, Brainchildren, Elbow Room, Breaking the Spell, Darwin's Dangerous Idea, Consciousness Explained and Freedom Evolves.Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life is a 1995 book by the philosopher Daniel Dennett, in which the author looks at some of the repercussions of Darwinian theory. A brilliant polemicist and philosopher, he is famous for challenging unexamined orthodoxies, and an outspoken supporter of the Brights movement. Dennett is one of the most original and provocative thinkers in the world. Byatt, Sunday Times Books of the Yearĭaniel C. 'Dennett's book brings together science and philosophy with wit, complex clarity and an infectious sense that these ideas matter, to us and the way we live now'Ī.S. deserves a place on the bookshelves of every thinking person' This is the best single-author overview of all the implications of evolution by natural selection available. 'A brilliant piece of persuasion, excitingly argued and compulsively readable' Where creative, it lifts the reader to new intellectual heights. 'Essential and pleasurable for any thinking person' Dennett explores every aspect of evolutionary thinking to show why it is so fundamental to our existence, and why it affirms - not threatens - our convictions about the meaning of life. In this powerful defence of Darwin, Daniel C. Dennett argues that the theory of evolution can demystify the miracles of life without devaluing our most cherished beliefs.įrom the moment it first appeared, Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection has been controversial: misrepresented, abused, denied and fiercely debated. In Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life Daniel C.
