UW-Madison community members gathered in the Wisconsin Union Theater Monday to listen to what some called a radical evolutionary perspective.
Daniel Dennett, an American philosopher and noted atheist, spoke to students and faculty as part of the Distinguished Lecture Series. Dennett spoke primarily about evolution and how it can explain the existence of current life-forms by both biological and social means.
According to Dennett, Charles Darwin's ideas were revolutionary because they took into account different aspects of the human universe.
""Darwin's idea, more than any other idea anyone has had, is a unifier,"" Dennett said. ""It unites the world of purposeless causation, physics, with the world of meaning.""
UW-Madison student Catherine Arnold noticed Dennett combined ideas from different evolutionists and did not rely solely on Darwin's ideas.
""He puts all of these ideas together and adds his to make one really good theory,"" she said.
According to Dennett, natural selection leads to objects that have specific purposes in life, but those organisms do not necessarily know what their purpose is.
""[An organism] can have the competence without the comprehension,"" he said.
Dennett said brains are virtual machines, leading to higher purposes like the formation of groups, which allow greater things to be accomplished.
""Designed by natural selection, these virtual machines, which give us powers to take versatility up a level, [allow for us to] form larger, organism-like entities like universities, armies and religions,"" he said.
According to Dennett, evolution is influenced by society through memes, which are specific parts of our culture, like words. He said words and society have both evolved to take advantage of their previous design, just as biological evolution has in humankind's past.
""Words evolve from other words that are direct descendants of other words,"" he said.
UW-Madison philosophy professor Lawrence Shapiro said Dennett is sure to have left an impression on many because he presented unique arguments.
""While Daniel's positions will strike many as radical, there's no denying that the prose he uses to defend himself are simple, eloquent and compelling and, above all, accessible,"" he said.
Anjali Misra, a UW-Madison student, said she was intrigued by Dennett's lecture.
""I thought his whole approach to evolution is really interesting,"" she said. ""I'm not a student of philosophy, but he really made me think.""
Dennett stressed the importance of looking at the other processes in life and discovering how they came to be.
For more information on upcoming lecturers, visit www.union.wisc.edu/DLS.
