Description
Book SynopsisIn Darwin''s Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life Daniel C. Dennett argues that the theory of evolution can demystify the miracles of life without devaluing our most cherished beliefs.
From the moment it first appeared, Charles Darwin''s theory of evolution by natural selection has been controversial: misrepresented, abused, denied and fiercely debated. In this powerful defence of Darwin, Daniel C. Dennett explores every aspect of evolutionary thinking to show why it is so fundamental to our existence, and why it affirms - not threatens - our convictions about the meaning of life.
''Essential and pleasurable for any thinking person''
Stephen Pinker
''A surpassingly brilliant book. Where creative, it lifts the reader to new intellectual heights. Where critical, it is devastating''
Richard Dawkins
''A brilliant piece of persuasion, excitingly argued and compulsively readable''
The Times Higher Education Supple
Table of Contents
Part I Starting in the middle: tell me why; an idea is born; universal acid; the tree of life; the possible and the actual; threads of actuality in design space. Part II Darwinian thinking in biology: priming Darwin's pump; biology is engineering; searching for quality; bully for brontosaurus; controversies contained. Part III Mind, meaning, mathematics, and morality: cranes of culture; losing our minds to Darwin; the evolution of meanings; the emperor's new mind, and other fables; on the origin of morality; redesigning morality; the future of an idea.
