# Daniel Dennett **Domain:** Philosophy of Mind / Cognitive Science **Doc Type:** Thinker Node **Maturity:** Evolving **Related:** [[The Mind's I]], [[Consciousness]], [[Physicalism]], [[Daniel Dennett's Multiple Drafts Model]] --- ## Definition Daniel Dennett (1942–2024) was an American philosopher of mind known for naturalistic accounts of consciousness, intentional systems and the self as an organized narrative center. ## Corpus Context As co-editor of [[The Mind's I]], Dennett helped assemble the thought experiments through which copies, artificial minds and body-independent identity entered late-twentieth-century philosophical culture. ## Relationships [[The Mind's I]], [[Consciousness]], [[Physicalism]], [[Daniel Dennett's Multiple Drafts Model]] ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts <!-- BEGIN SIMPLE REMINDER SEED 2026-09-11 --> > "A scholar is just a library's way of making another library." > **— Daniel Dennett**, *Widely attributed; primary source pending* *Verification Status: Unverified — exact wording/source has not yet been independently confirmed against a primary source; source clue: Widely attributed; primary source pending.* [[reminders/unverified/A Scholar Is a Library Reproducing Itself by Daniel Dennett|A Scholar Is a Library Reproducing Itself by Daniel Dennett]] > "Consciousness is cerebral celebrity." > **— Daniel Dennett**, *Sweet Dreams / consciousness writings, attribution clue* *Verification Status: Unverified — exact wording/source has not yet been independently confirmed against a primary source; source clue: Sweet Dreams / consciousness writings, attribution clue.* [[reminders/unverified/Consciousness Is Cerebral Celebrity by Daniel Dennett|Consciousness Is Cerebral Celebrity by Daniel Dennett]] > "Mental types can be identifiable as functional types in the language of Turing-machine description." > **— Daniel Dennett**, *Functionalism discussion, excerpt candidate* *Verification Status: Unverified — exact wording/source has not yet been independently confirmed against a primary source; source clue: Functionalism discussion, excerpt candidate.* [[reminders/unverified/Could Mental States Be Computational Types by Daniel Dennett|Could Mental States Be Computational Types by Daniel Dennett]] > "Nature doesn't build epistemic engines." > **— Daniel Dennett**, *Consciousness Explained-era discussion, excerpt candidate* *Verification Status: Unverified — exact wording/source has not yet been independently confirmed against a primary source; source clue: Consciousness Explained-era discussion, excerpt candidate.* [[reminders/unverified/Nature Doesn't Build Epistemic Engines by Daniel Dennett|Nature Doesn't Build Epistemic Engines by Daniel Dennett]] > "There is no central Headquarters, no Cartesian Theatre where it all comes together." > **— Daniel Dennett**, *Consciousness Explained (1991), excerpt candidate* *Verification Status: Unverified — exact wording/source has not yet been independently confirmed against a primary source; source clue: Consciousness Explained (1991), excerpt candidate.* [[reminders/unverified/There Is No Central Headquarters by Daniel Dennett|There Is No Central Headquarters by Daniel Dennett]] <!-- END SIMPLE REMINDER SEED 2026-09-11 --> ## Sources / Provenance - [[articles/Beyond the Sea|Beyond the Sea]] ## Directory Context [[Recommended Institutions and Signals]] · [[Team Leela]] ## STEVE Routing [[articles/STEVE|STEVE]] places this entry within the article’s scientific, intellectual, or institutional topology. The article documents that connection; formal membership in [[Team Leela]], shared intent, and coordinated program activity remain unverified. [[articles/STEVE|STEVE]] · [[Team Leela]] · [[articles/Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution|Digital Darwinism]] · [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley]] · [[articles/The Hawking Continuity|The Hawking Continuity]] · [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]]