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STANFORD HUMANITIES CENTER EVENTS
Daniel C. Dennett: The Evolution of "Why" as the Key to Free Will
Monday January 12, 2009 | 07:00 -09:00 PM |
Presidential Lecturer
We human beings are the only living things that can represent, transmit, and criticize reasons for doing things and making things. This creates a perspective for us that we can then use to interpret all the rest of the life on the planet, cautiously. Mother Nature’s reasons are not just like our reasons. It is our evolved capacity to ask, and answer, “Why” questions that gives us, in the end, the kinds of free will worth wanting, the kinds that no other animal has.
Daniel C. Dennett: The Evolution of "Why" as the Key to Free Will
Monday January 12, 2009 | 07:00 -09:00 PM |
Presidential Lecturer
We human beings are the only living things that can represent, transmit, and criticize reasons for doing things and making things. This creates a perspective for us that we can then use to interpret all the rest of the life on the planet, cautiously. Mother Nature’s reasons are not just like our reasons. It is our evolved capacity to ask, and answer, “Why” questions that gives us, in the end, the kinds of free will worth wanting, the kinds that no other animal has.
All events take place at Stanford University, unless otherwise noted.
The Calendar of Events lists events sponsored and co-sponsored by the Stanford Humanities Center. For a more comprehensive listing of university-wide events, see the Stanford Event Calendar.
The Calendar of Events lists events sponsored and co-sponsored by the Stanford Humanities Center. For a more comprehensive listing of university-wide events, see the Stanford Event Calendar.