Re: Review of The Extended Phenotype

From: Malcolm (malcolm_at_55bank.freeserve.co.uk)
Date: 09/09/04 

Date: Thu, 9 Sep 2004 03:17:59 +0000 (UTC)

"Malcolm" <malcolm@55bank.freeserve.co.uk> wrote
>
> I think that the current academic climate is very hostile to philosophy.
> Certainly it is hard to name a single work of philosophy produced in the
> twentieth century that will still be a household name at the end of the
> twenty-first, unless you count works by political dictators.
>
> [moderator's note: Popper? Russell? Godel? Wilkins? Need I go on?
> I could add Dewey, Goodman, and a host of others in various areas
> of endeavor. - JAH]
>
The challenge was to name a single work which will definitely be a household
name by 2100. You responded with a list of philosophers. Telling.

To keep us on topic, I think that any philosophy of the human condition has
got to accept the fact that Darwin was right, and "psychology is put on a
new foundation". So Daniel Dennett is asking the right questions. This is
most of the battle, but not quite all of it. Personally I cannot see Dennett
emerging as a "great philosopher". However "Consciousness Explained" is at
least a title most people have heard of. I never got my money back after I
bought a copy expecting to find the explanation of consciousness.