Synopses & Reviews
Over a storied career, Daniel C. Dennett has engaged questions about science and the workings of the mind. His answers have combined rigorous argument with strong empirical grounding. And a lot of fun.
Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking offers seventy-seven of Dennett’s most successful "imagination-extenders and focus-holders" meant to guide you through some of life’s most treacherous subject matter: evolution, meaning, mind, and free will. With patience and wit, Dennett deftly deploys his thinking tools to gain traction on these thorny issues while offering readers insight into how and why each tool was built.
Alongside well-known favorites like Occam’s Razor and reductio ad absurdum lie thrilling descriptions of Dennett’s own creations: Trapped in the Robot Control Room, Beware of the Prime Mammal, and The Wandering Two-Bitser. Ranging across disciplines as diverse as psychology, biology, computer science, and physics, Dennett’s tools embrace in equal measure light-heartedness and accessibility as they welcome uninitiated and seasoned readers alike. As always, his goal remains to teach you how to "think reliably and even gracefully about really hard questions."
A sweeping work of intellectual seriousness that’s also studded with impish delights, Intuition Pumps offers intrepid thinkers — in all walks of life — delicious opportunities to explore their pet ideas with new powers.
Review
"Our best current philosopher. He is the next Bertrand Russell. Unlike traditional philosophers, Dan is a student of neuroscience, linguistics, artificial intelligence, computer science, and psychology. He’s redefining and reforming the role of the philosopher." Marvin Minsky
Review
"One of the most original thinkers of our time." Michael Shermer
Review
"The sharpest, cleverest, most stylish prober of how issues of human consciousness interconnect today with evolutionary theory." Science
Review
"Once in a blue moon an analytic philosopher comes along who redeems his subdiscipline by combining professional persnicketiness with a romantic spirit, a vivid imagination, and a sense of humor…One of our most original and most readable philosophers." Carlin Romano Philadelphia Inquirer
Synopsis
One of the world’s leading philosophers offers aspiring thinkers his personal trove of mind-stretching thought experiments.
Synopsis
Over a storied career, philosopher Daniel C. Dennett has engaged questions about science and the workings of the mind. His answers have combined rigorous argument with strong empirical grounding. And a lot of fun.
In this book, Dennett shares the “imagination extenders and focus-holders” that he and others have developed for addressing life’s most fundamental questions. Along with novel discussions of familiar moves—Occam’s Razor, reductio ad absurdum—Dennett offers cognitive tools purpose-built for the most treacherous subject matter: evolution, meaning, mind, and free will. From skyhooks to deepities, the Wandering Two-Bitser and the Prime Mammal, Dennett’s genial style persuades as it educates, pointing out pitfalls in arguments as it challenges readers to find others. The result is a sweeping work of deep intellectual seriousness that’s also studded with impish delights. Intuition Pumps offers intrepid thinkers — in all walks of life — delicious opportunities to explore their pet ideas with new powers.
About the Author
Daniel C. Dennett is the Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University and the author of numerous books including Breaking the Spell, Darwin’s Dangerous Idea, and Consciousness Explained.