A determined Darwinist

[Michie]

Daniel Dennett saw religion as the great enemy​

Last month, a famous scientist and philosopher died. His name was Daniel Dennett. He was convinced that there was no mind behind the universe, but rather that mind had arisen from the combination of matter and natural selection. Now, his conscience has either been scattered across oblivion or he is in a position to know the truth.

Francis Beckwith, the noted Christian philosopher, reflected on his legacy, saying, “Dennett was a respected member of the profession, having a wide influence outside of the academy, largely as a result of his relationship with atheist popularizers, Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Sam Harris, though they were not his equal philosophically (as they would readily admit).”  

Part of what made Dennett famous was his determination to follow his Darwinistic conclusions about mind and matter all the way to what he thought were their fullest extent. The fullest extent was extreme, indeed. Dennett saw natural selection as the key that put matter on the throne and which utterly destroyed any idea of a mind behind creation. The result was a kind of universal acid (as Dennett described it) that ate away at the human fabric of traditions and principles that once framed the thinking of men and women. In its place would be a complete freedom from religion, which he tended to view as a dangerous and retrograde influence upon humanity.

Dennett harshly criticized fellow Darwinists whom he believed failed to embrace the full implications of naturalism and materialism. While he acted as a kind of inspiration to new atheists such as Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens, he attacked figures such as Stephen Jay Gould (the paleontologist) and Noam Chomsky (the linguist) who were more reserved. In a sense, it is strange that a philosopher would attack an ultra-famous paleontologist on Darwinian grounds, but it shows how fiercely Dennett devoted himself to finding a way to rule out the presence of God.

Continued below.

A determined Darwinist

Hunter Baker | Daniel Dennett saw religion as the great enemy

wng.org

 

[The Barbarian]

Which seems kinda odd, since Darwin attributed the origin of life to God.

There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved.
Charles Darwin, last sentence of On the Origin of Species

 

[Bob Crowley]

Well since he has now found out his mind and conscience have survived death, he's got a long time to reflect on his errors.

 

[The Barbarian]

Well since he has now found out his mind and conscience have survived death, he's got a long time to reflect on his errors.

Thank God for invincible ignorance, um?

 

[The Barbarian]

Thomas Huxley (an agnostic) was once asked what he would do, when he ended up at Judgement.

He replied, "I could only say, 'Gentlemen, I was wrong.''

 

[FireDragon76]

Dawkins and Harris at least take religion seriously.