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Biology
Consciousness

I studied languages, not philosophy, the reason being that I was afraid I would have to study intensely old philosophers and this would influence my own thinking. This was very wise, I think, and now, thirty years on, I think I have developed my own view. Now I would like to see if there are others who think along the same lines. What I try to do is view myself and the rest of us the way humans look at other animals and see the similarities. I consider evolution to be the only driving force in life and therefore our self-consciousness and intelligence to be evolutionary assets like the claws of the tiger or the trunk of an elephant. Could you direct me to others who think along the same lines? Yours truly, Martin C.
Accepted:
March 19, 2007

Comments

Mark Sprevak
March 23, 2007 (changed March 23, 2007) Permalink

Hi Martin. I'm not sure about your justification for not studying philosophy (the intention of which is to encourage thinking things through for yourself!), but you'll be glad to know that there are plenty of philosophers who think along similar lines to those that you mention. There are too many to list, but two prominent philosophers concerned about the kind of big picture that you mention are Daniel Dennett (Consciousness Explained, Darwin's Dangerous Idea) and Fred Dretske (Naturalising the Mind).

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