• Darwin's Dangerous Idea

  • Evolution and the Meanings of Life
  • By: Daniel C. Dennett
  • Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
  • Length: 27 hrs and 4 mins
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Release date: 10-08-13
  • Language: English
  • Publisher: Audible Studios
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars 4.4 (292 ratings)

Regular price: $39.95

Membership details Membership details
  • A 30-day trial plus your first audiobook, free.
  • 1 credit/month after trial – good for any book, any price.
  • Easy exchanges – swap any book you don’t love.
  • Keep your audiobooks, even if you cancel.
  • After your trial, Audible is just $14.95/month.
Buy Now for $39.95
Select or Add a new payment method

Buy Now with 1 Credit

By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Buy Now for $39.95

Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

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.
Show More Show Less

See More Like This

People who bought this also bought...

Audible.com Reviews
Audible.co.uk reviews
Audible.com.au reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful
5 out of 5 stars
By Gary on 12-30-13

Sky Hooks need not apply.

This is by far the best book I have read this year. It uses the narrative of Darwin's deceptively simple idea of making complex things from a very simple algorithm. The author beats this thought in to the reader and at the same time covers how the world changed because of that.

The book is really more philosophical than scientific but it's accessible to the non-philosopher like me. He starts by telling the listener the mindset during Darwin's time. Plato's universal forms would lead to absolute categories such as species (either your a donkey or a horse) and Aristotle's importance of essence for the nature of things to be the thing. Darwin had to overcome that kind of thought. Darwin dances around what a species is in his "Origins of Species" because for his theory to work you must realize that there are intermediaries between objects and the thinking at that time would not allow for intermediaries. All of the above, I got from just the first chapter in the book, and you too can be just as entertained as I was!

The author tells me that Locke would say that mind must come from mind, that is God must have created man. Now, I have finally started to understand Locke. Oddly, David Hume, almost had the concept of evolution by natural selection but just couldn't take the next step to get there. (How I love David Hume!, a man a head of his times). Hobbes gave us "just so stories" to explain the creation of society and Leviathan.

The nearly infinite decision space (what he calls the 'library in the tower of Babel') gives false security to believers in Sky Hooks (deus ex machina believers, Gould, Penrose and Chomskey), as opposed to the believers in sky cranes (Darwin's Brilliant Idea).

The author has long sections on Psychology (Skinner is wrong!), and morality (morality is complex!). He even delves into one of my favorite topics, Godol's incompleteness theorem and how Penrose is wrong to say it proves artificial intelligence will never succeed. All the time, the author uses the narrative of Darwin's Brilliant Idea, simple algorithms can lead to amazing results.

A negative review on audible led me to this book. The reviewer said that the first half of the book was about philosophy and how good Dawkins is, and the second half spends most of the time criticizing Gould. I knew I wanted the book after having read that review. (To the reviewers credit, he's not being nasty, but fairly accurate).

I loved this book. It's a rare one which challenges my beliefs, keeps me focused and transcends me to hard to reach places in my mind which makes me really think about my place in the universe and understand it just a tiny bit more. Besides, it's fun to be able act like an intellectual snob while talking in a waffle shop with a stranger and have the person think I'm intellectual heavyweight while knowing I only know that stuff because I just listened to one fine book, and more importantly keeps me from having to listen to his stories about some unimportant job he had thirty years ago!

Read More Hide me

31 of 31 people found this review helpful

4 out of 5 stars
By Richard on 03-19-14

Exhaustive, illuminating, life-changing.

Would you listen to Darwin's Dangerous Idea again? Why?

Yes- but considering the tome is 27 plus hours cover to cover, I will reserve a second listen for a winter stay in Antarctica or a South Pacific solo sailing cruise of long duration.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

The ingenious meld of philosophy,history and biological science.

What does Kevin Stillwell bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He is gifted with a vocal tone and style that is neither boring nor overly stimulating. It's just right.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Challenging All Barriers You Took For Granted.

Read More Hide me

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

See all Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful
5 out of 5 stars
By Colin Jaquiery on 04-15-15

Coherent and engaging

Dennett's dialogue remains coherent and engaging when spoken, thanks to excellent structure and generous inclusion of allegory. Stillwell's narrative tone is spot on.

Occasional technical details might be difficult to follow if the listener is not familiar with the vocabulary of biology, but this should not prevent fluent comprehension of the work. The commentary on Gould is a dreary incongruity in an otherwise delightful exposition of Neo-Darwinism.

Read More Hide me

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

5 out of 5 stars
By Marek on 06-07-17

incredible

hard work but only there is so much incredible content. dennett has hit the nail on the head

Read More Hide me
See all Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful
5 out of 5 stars
By droy on 03-21-17

Potent Stuff

One of the best books on evolution I've ever read, it will likely transform the way you see the world forever. The chapter on Gould alone is worth getting this book for; it is an amazingly devastating critique of some of the most infamous and popular attempts made to contain the universal acid.

Read More Hide me
5 out of 5 stars
By Felipe Di Gregorio on 02-14-17

an incredible book. really rewarding

this book is mind blowing. totally worth listening to although hard to follow at times

Read More Hide me
See all Reviews
View All Categories
Contact Us
Help
Promo Code
Conditions of Use Privacy Policy Full Site
© Copyright 1997 - 2018 Audible, Inc