194 - Daniel Dennett: Consciousness, Free Will, and the Evolution of Minds

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7

Daniel Dennett is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Tufts University, where he was co-director of the Center for Cognitive Studies and the Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy. He is one of the most recognized philosophers today, and has made major contributions to the philosophy of mind and biology, among other areas, and is known as one of the Four Horsemen of Atheism. Dan’s latest book is I’ve Been Thinking (W. W. Norton, 2023), though much of what he and Robinson discuss comes from his earlier book, From Bacteria to Bach and Back (W. W. Norton, 2017). More particularly, they talk about the origin of life and reasons, the evolution of music, Robert Sapolsky and free will, famous thought experiments in the philosophy of mind, the origin of consciousness, and the relationship between mind and language.

I’ve Been Thinking: https://a.co/d/ahMEC0G

From Bacteria to Bach and Back: https://a.co/d/htcrcn7

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:54 Introduction

3:51 Where Am I? 

11:00 The Origin of Life as the Origin of Reasons 

16:42 On Music and Philosophy

23:13 Is Music Evolved?

26:52 What are Replicators and How Do they Figure in Natural Selection?

33:32 On Robert Sapolsky and Free Will

47:50 On Free Will and the Justice System

59:55 On Sean Carroll, Free Will, and Intuition Pumps

1:09:49 On the Chinese Room

1:13:14 On Mary in the White Room

1:18:18 Why Would Aliens Be Excited to Discover Clam Rakes? 

1:21:58 What Is Homuncular Functionalism?

1:30:11 How Do Brains Make Minds?

1:38:59 Are There Pathological Memes? 

1:47:19 Where Does Consciousness Come From?

Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.