In 1991 Daniel Dennett publishes Consciousness Explained, arguing that consciousness is the brain's multiple drafts of its own activity, with no central theatre and no inner spectator. The book, attacked and praised in equal measure, is naturalism's flagship treatment of the problem its critics hold unanswerable.
Tagged: Naturalism
The Event
- Date
- 1991 (exact)
- Era
- Naturalized Philosophy; Standard periodization of naturalist history
- Location
- Boston; today Boston, Massachusetts
- Traditions
- Naturalism
- Streams
- Naturalism
- Key figures
- Daniel Dennett
- Key texts
- Consciousness Explained
Primary Sources
- Dennett, Daniel C. Consciousness Explained. Boston: Little, Brown, 1991.
Secondary Sources
- De Caro, Mario, and David Macarthur, eds. Naturalism in Question. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004.
- Gregory, Frederick. Scientific Materialism in Nineteenth Century Germany. Dordrecht: Reidel, 1977.
- Papineau, David. Philosophical Naturalism. Oxford: Blackwell, 1993.
Provenance: HIST-1416; confidence 0.95; accessed 2026-10-30.
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1770
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1863
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1747
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Laplace's Exposition of the System of the World
1796
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Mill's A System of Logic
1843
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Newton's Principia Mathematica
1687
World View
Naturalism
Naturalism holds that nature is all there is: the universe of matter, energy, and natural law needs no god, soul, or purpose beyond itself.