FromBacteriatoBachandBack

One of Americas foremost philosophers, Daniel C. Dennett, offers a major new account of the origins of the conscious mind. For centuries, the question of how we came to have minds has intrigued psychologists, physicists, poets, and philosophers. Though scientists understand the inner workings of proteins, neurons, and DNA better than ever before, the matter of how our minds developed has largely remained a mystery, causing confusion and controversy. However, in his most comprehensive exploration of evolutionary thinking yet titled From Bacteria to Bach and Back, Dennett explains how a comprehending mind could have arisen from a mindless process of natural selection by building on ideas from computer science and biology. His new book enlarges themes that have sustained Dennetts legendary career at the forefront of philosophical thought.

Dennett states that a crucial shift occurred when humans developed the ability to share memes, or ways of doing things not based on genetic instinct. With language, which was itself composed of memes, humans became able to turbocharge this interplay. Competition among memes, a form of natural selection, produced thinking tools so well-designed that they gave humans the power to design their own memes. This resulted in a mind that not only perceives and controls but can create and comprehend, largely shaped by the process of cultural evolution.

From Bacteria to Bach and Back is a thought-provoking philosophical work that delights and entertains anyone eager to make sense of how the mind works and how it came about. The book features 4 color and 18 black-and-white illustrations, and is an agenda-setting book for a new generation of scientists, thinkers, and philosophers.

作者简介

DanielC.DennettisUniversityProfessorandAustinB.FletcherProfessorofPhilosophyatTuftsUniversityandtheauthorofnumerousbooksincludingIntuitionPumpsandOtherToolsforThinking,BreakingtheSpell,Darwin’sDangerousIdea,andConsciousnessExplained.