Dan Dennett

Daniel C. Dennett is University Professor, Professor of Philosophy, and Co-Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University. He is the author of Content and Consciousness; Brainstorms; Elbow Room; The Intentional Stance; Consciousness Explained; Darwin's Dangerous Idea; Kinds of Minds; Brainchildren; Freedom Evolves; Sweet Dreams; and Breaking the Spell as well as over 300 scholarly articles on various aspects on the mind. Besides his broad philosophical work on the mind, Dennett is a major contributor to the understanding of the conceptual foundations of evolutionary biology.

Dennett has been the recipient of two Guggenheim Fellowships, a Fulbright Fellowship, and a Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Studies in Behavioral Science. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1987. In addition to his writing and lectures on human cognition, Dennett has shown great interest in the development of artificial intelligence and was the Co-founder (in 1985) and Co-director of the Curricular Software Studio at Tufts. He has also helped to design museum exhibits on computers for the Smithsonian Institution, the Museum of Science in Boston, and the Computer Museum in Boston.

Professor Dennett delivered the following address at the 2007 ASC conference.