Uneasy partners : a theological dialogue with Daniel Dennett’s philosophy of mind

Abstract

The thesis sets out the goal of isolating Daniel Dennett’s multiple draft model of consciousness from the rest of his theory of mind. This is done because while his eliminative materialism is obviously not compatible with Christian Orthodoxy the polyvalent mind that it supposes is ripe for theological interpretation. Dennett’s theory of the mind encountered serious criticism from Maxwell Bennet and Peter Hacker in their book Philosophical Foundations of Neuroscience and the debate between Dennett and these authors is examined with the author ultimately siding with Dennett. Turning to Christian accounts of the self it is proposed that the use of the multiple draft model as hermeneutic device is extremely helpful in reading scripture, especially in the polyvalent conception of the self as found in the writings of Paul.