Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking

by Daniel C. Dennett Narrated by Jeff Crawford

Overview

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 listeners 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 listeners 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 powers.

Editorial Reviews

Science - Michael Shermer

"One of the most original thinkers of our time."

Marvin Minsky

"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."

Jason Gots

"Cloaked in the breezy, familiar trappings of a self-help book, Intuition Pumps is in actuality a dark mirror of that genre—a field of rabbit holes designed to leave the reader with more questions than answers, and wiser for the long and indirect journey."

Richard Rorty

"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."

Philadelphia Inquirer - Carlin Romano

"The sharpest, cleverest, most stylish prober of how issues of human consciousness interconnect today with evolutionary theory."

Nature

"A philosopher’s box of tools for the musing mind."

New York Times

"Perhaps America’s most widely read (and debated) living philosopher. . . . [Intuition Pumps is] a lively primer on the radical answers Mr. Dennett has elaborated to the big questions in his nearly five decades in philosophy"

Boston Globe

"An excellent introduction to Dennett’s body of thought."

Daily Beast

"“[Dennett] is a master at inventing tools for thought— metaphysical jokes, fables, parables, puzzles, and zany Monty-Python-like sketches that can help thinkers feel their way forward."

NOVEMBER 2013 - AudioFile

Narrator Jeff Crawford’s tone of wonder makes this lengthy book sound fresh and interesting from start to finish. The philosophy he’s reading may be down-to-earth, but without his likability and palpable affection for these ideas, it could have sounded esoteric or mechanical. Instead, the book comes off as a lively guide to higher-quality thinking. It sounds warm and engaging because of the author’s peppy writing, especially the examples that draw on his college teaching or on fascinating realms of life. The book’s message is uplifting: Throw out your habits and assumptions and approach problems from new angles. Become a nimble thinker and feel more alive, more competent in life. T.W. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940173431608
Publisher:	Brilliance Audio
Publication date:	05/06/2013
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	1,153,599

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