Darwin's Dangerous Idea

Evolution and the Meanings of Life

By: Daniel C. Dennett

Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell

Length: 27 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

In a book that is both groundbreaking and accessible, Daniel C. Dennett, whom Chet Raymo of The Boston Globe calls "one of the most provocative thinkers on the planet", focuses his unerringly logical mind on the theory of natural selection, showing how Darwin's great idea transforms and illuminates our traditional view of humanity's place in the universe. Dennett vividly describes the theory itself and then extends Darwin's vision with impeccable arguments to their often surprising conclusions, challenging the views of some of the most famous scientists of our day.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2013 Daniel C. Dennett (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Excellent material in the firm of a formal proof.

Any one section or snippet of this book is very interesting, and I appreciated how each section supported the rest of the book. In the end it was just to long.

Please condense by half and re-release

Brevity is the soul of wit professor Dennett. He seemed to be giving a lecture to a grad and post-grad lecture group in excruciating detail. It is much too long. Dennett goes into Aristotelian this and Ontological that which is AWESOME that is why I bought this book. Where does Darwin fit with Hume and Locke, better still. But good grief, the man took at least 30 minutes define an algorithm. There are some real gems here but by the time he made his point I had forgotten what he was getting at and I've got a pretty high threshold for detail. He also verbally footnotes his references as he goes, certainly dozens probably hundreds of times: See so and so, Quarterly review 1985, pages 23 through 34.' ? Seriously? Yea I'll go look that up. Consider your audience's time. I guess it was pretty good, but shrink this for working people please.

quite good!

it was a pleasurable listen, never did i become bored with it's content. it's written in a way that isnt too technical or dry. the writer does a great job of laying out his arguments too WOW. he manages to make considerably complex ideals very clear ! im impressed man.. this guy seems very reasonable without arrogance or bias. if you have any interest in evolution at all you will likely enjoy this one! cheers!

Such a compelling and well explained outlook!

This book is not a light read, but it's intense thought provoking ideas will make you wonder of what you find believable and what you take on faith.
I am unsure whether to recommend this to people who already listened to Dan's intuition pumps and other tools for thinking.

Mind Bendingly amazing

It is an amazing book for those wannabe philosophers like myself. That being said if you're not a student or professional on this topic it can get confusing specially when book quotations get mixed up quite often with the rest of the book. Ultimately, though it's an old book, it does make a great case for evolution through philosophy keeping you engaged until the very end.

A difficult read but we'll worth it...

The narrator is great and at times makes a rather dry book come to life. Although dry the information contained within is fantastic. It not only helps give you a deep understanding of evolution but the tools to combat people opposing it. Show them cranes where they believed skyhooks existed...

Is this guy messing with me?

I think the author might be a theist who wants to punish atheists with his pronunciation of "a priori." That's good narration.

The philosophy of evolutionary biology

It is a long book but very well written. I love the analogies that Dennett uses when explaining complicated philosophical Concepts. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about Darwinism in general.

Hurry Up and Go Somewhere

I found the book to be very repetitive and containing way too many citations (thats how you end up with a book that is 27 hours long and could easily have been 10 hours). No need to cite 2, 3 and at times 4 or more sources for every thought. Very philosophical in nature with very little science or evolution history. Stuck with it in hopes it would get better but never went anywhere.

Darwinism as a philosophy

It is difficult to listen to an author whose mental and verbal capacity so greatly outpaced my own. With time taken to listen,reflect,look up meanings of words, and listen again, I feel I have gained insight and vocabulary.
The narrator was excellent. The footnoting would have been easier to deal with had I chosen a written text.