Daniel C. Dennett

The philosophy professor behind Breaking the Spell and Consciousness Explained offers exercises and tools to stretch the mind, offering new ways to consider, discuss and argue positions on dangerous subject matter including evolution, the meaning of life and free will.

Intuition Pumps And Other Tools for Thinking

This is a great collection of thought experiments that can train you to use your brain in perhaps more efficient ways. The sections are very short and bite-sized, so it's easy to make good progress though this book in a short amount of time. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to learn some tricks for being a better thinker. 

Ashlyn

Gavin

A self-help book! in the form of a set of tricks and tools for good non-routine cognition. But it's utterly personable and scientifically charged, and a defence of naturalist semantics, mind, 'free' will, and philosophy itself, to boot. He's so much more subtle than he's given credit for; for instance, a large theme here is the central role of imagination in science and the other potent sorts of thought. I confess that I simply can't conceive of some of his positions (e.g. 'qualia' being illusions); but one of the book's burning points is that this may be a failing of my person and not his philosophy. 

Also a meta-philosophy: 

  By working with scientists I get a rich diet of fascinating and problematic facts to think about, but by staying a philosopher without a lab or a research grant, I get to think about all the theories and experiments and never have to do the dishes.
  



A good library has all the good books. A great library has all the books. If you really want to understand a great philosopher, you have to spend some time looking at the less great contemporaries and predecessors that are left in the shadows of the masters. 

Every book of his I read increases my respect. (Though note Galen Strawson's rebuke to Dennett's narrativist theory of identity, 4* here.)

Savas Yazici

Started well but then suddenly Dennett got lost and the book jumped into an area (Computation) which made me extremely bored as (i) I knew the topic very well and (ii) I was expecting to learn more about Dennett's (in)famous critical methods of reading/understanding philosophical texts... Anyway... Dennett is Dennett...

Konrad Lischka

Thinking is hard. A few of us may be natural geniuses; others are blessed with reserves of willpower. Then there are the rest of us: not prodigies and short on time, but still aspiring to understand the world. What can we do? Acclaimed thinker Daniel Dennett reveals a collection of his favourite thinking tools, or 'intuition pumps'. From Occam's Razor to the benefit of mistakes, the 90% rule to avoiding 'deepities', this entertaining guide will enable you to tackle life's most fundamental questions - evolution, meaning, consciousness and free will - and teach you to think independently and creatively. 'Intelligence, insight and flair . . . They don't come much bigger than Daniel Dennett.' Julian Baggini, Guardian 'Brilliant . . . Vintage Dennett.' @ Richard Dawkins 'A philosopher's box of tools for the musing mind.' Melvin Konner, Nature 'A lively primer on the radical answers Mr. Dennett has elaborated to the big questions in his nearly five decades in philosophy.' Jennifer Schuessler, The New York Times 'America's most important and entertaining philosopher.' Observer 'Dennett will lift the top off your head.' Daily Beast

Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking

Ned Summers 

Caash

Joshua Line

tiff

“The best new book I’ve read.”—Richard Dawkins, New York Times Book Review 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.

Benjamin Snipes

Magnus Hambleton

Danté

Mundy Otto Reimer

Christopher Wheeler

Bradford Fults

One of the world’s leading philosophers offers aspiring thinkers his personal trove of mind-stretching thought experiments. 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.

Intuition Pumps And Other Tools for Thinking

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