From Bacteria to Bach and Back
Cover (Painting by Vasily Kandinsky, "transverse line" 1923) | |
| Author | Daniel Dennett |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Human consciousness |
| Published | 2017 |
| Publisher | W. W. Norton & Company |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 496 |
| ISBN | 978-0-393-24207-2 |
From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds is a 2017 book about the origin of human consciousness by the philosopher Daniel Dennett, in which the author makes a case for a materialist theory of mind, arguing that consciousness is no more mysterious than gravity.
Drawing on ideas from René Descartes and Charles Darwin, Dennett writes that:
- '... natural systems can create "competence without comprehension"—that is, situations in which sophisticated actions occur without the individual or machine involved understanding the reasons for the actions taken.'
and that:
- 'a comprehending mind could in fact have arisen from a mindless process of natural selection. ...'