Share <Embed>

Buy New

$16.80

List Price: $28.95
Save: $12.15 (42%)

Only 3 left in stock - order soon.

Sold by North Star LLC and Fulfilled by Amazon.

This item ships to Finland. Get it by Friday, Sept. 6 Choose this date at checkout. Learn more

Deliver to Finland

Buy Used

$12.33

FREE Shipping on orders over $25.

Deliver to Finland

Used: Acceptable | Details

Sold by Jenson Books Inc

Fulfilled by Amazon

Added to

Unable to add item to List. Please try again.

Other Sellers on Amazon

Add to Cart

$20.26
& FREE Shipping on eligible orders. Details

Sold by: Amazon.com

Add to Cart

$21.07
& FREE Shipping on eligible orders. Details

Sold by: Elite Edu

Add to Cart

$12.71
+ $8.74 shipping

Sold by: Zoom-Deals

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 3 images

Follow the Author

Daniel C. Dennett

Intuition Pumps And Other Tools for Thinking Hardcover – May 6, 2013

by Daniel C. Dennett (Author)

147 customer reviews

See all 17 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$10.99

—

Audible Audiobook, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$0.00

Free with your Audible trial

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$16.80

$8.70

$4.36

Paperback

"Please retry"

$17.42

$11.85

$4.72

MP3 CD, Audiobook, MP3 Audio, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$9.99

$5.42

$5.90

One of the world’s leading philosophers offers aspiring thinkers his personal trove of mind-stretching thought experiments.

Over a storied career, Daniel C. Dennett has engaged questions about science and the workings of the mind. His answers have combined rigorous argument with strong empirical grounding. And a lot of fun.

Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking offers seventy-seven of Dennett’s most successful "imagination-extenders and focus-holders" meant to guide you through some of life’s most treacherous subject matter: evolution, meaning, mind, and free will. With patience and wit, Dennett deftly deploys his thinking tools to gain traction on these thorny issues while offering readers insight into how and why each tool was built.

Alongside well-known favorites like Occam’s Razor and reductio ad absurdum lie thrilling descriptions of Dennett’s own creations: Trapped in the Robot Control Room, Beware of the Prime Mammal, and The Wandering Two-Bitser. Ranging across disciplines as diverse as psychology, biology, computer science, and physics, Dennett’s tools embrace in equal measure light-heartedness and accessibility as they welcome uninitiated and seasoned readers alike. As always, his goal remains to teach you how to "think reliably and even gracefully about really hard questions."

A sweeping work of intellectual seriousness that’s also studded with impish delights, Intuition Pumps offers intrepid thinkers―in all walks of life―delicious opportunities to explore their pet ideas with new powers.

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Sam Harris

602

Paperback
$10.37

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

1,323

Hardcover
$19.53

Editorial Reviews

From Bookforum

Dennett declares that his aim in Intuition Pumps is to lay out devices by which we might think more clearly, or with more insight, about a host of thorny topics—which might be boiled down to those many areas in which we errantly or too hastily assume we have a solid sense of the right and wrong answers. The sheer number of these thought experiments, geared to reveal how thoroughly incorrect our assumptions might be, is daring itself. The most provocative comprise consciousness, free will, and our own sense of what we mean by meaning and intend by speaking of intentionality—in other words, the philosophical terrain Dennett has explored extensively in his prior books. —Eric Banks

Review

“Our best current philosopher. He is the next Bertrand Russell. Unlike traditional philosophers, Dan is a student of neuroscience, linguistics, artificial intelligence, computer science, and psychology. He’s redefining and reforming the role of the philosopher.”
- Marvin Minsky

“One of the most original thinkers of our time.”
- Michael Shermer, Science

“The sharpest, cleverest, most stylish prober of how issues of human consciousness interconnect today with evolutionary theory.”
- Carlin Romano, Philadelphia Inquirer

“Once in a blue moon an analytic philosopher comes along who redeems his subdiscipline by combining professional persnicketiness with a romantic spirit, a vivid imagination, and a sense of humor…One of our most original and most readable philosophers.”
- Richard Rorty

“Cloaked in the breezy, familiar trappings of a self-help book, Intuition Pumps is in actuality a dark mirror of that genre―a field of rabbit holes designed to leave the reader with more questions than answers, and wiser for the long and indirect journey.”
- Jason Gots, author of BigThink

See all Editorial Reviews

Product details

Hardcover: 512 pages
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; First Edition edition (May 6, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0393082067
ISBN-13: 978-0393082067
Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.4 x 9.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 147 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #80,381 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #65 in Epistemology Philosophy
- #12 in Philosophy Methodology
- #307 in Substance Abuse Recovery

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

Be the first video

Your name here

147 customer reviews

Review this product

Write a customer review

Showing 1-8 of 147 reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Guilherme D. Faria

I abandoned this book in the middle. Here's why:

August 21, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Dennett is obviously a very smart person. He knows a lot about his field, which includes studies of technology, consciousness and free will. The problem with the book is the problem with most of Western philosophy: it gets into questions that are SO abstract that they lose almost all their relevance to the real world. Those of us who prefer more pragmatic lines of philosophy are left thinking "so what" in a lot of places. The title implied (at least for me) that this would be a 'tool box' type of book. Not quite. Lots of mental experiments about impossible scenarios, for instance.
Why 3 stars and not 2 or 1, then? Like I said, Dennett is very smart, and the book got me thinking even after I abandoned it. If you like this type of abstract meandering, maybe you'll like this. Otherwise, I'd recommend sticking to past and current stoics and people like Sam Harris for discussions about consciousness and free will.

16 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Tim Tyler

Thinking tools for those interested in consciousness and free will

November 13, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Dennett's recent offering is accessible and enjoyable to read. The title suggests that it covers the topic of thinking tools. However the book doesn't include very many general-purpose thinking tools. Those that he does offer are quite basic. I liked the idea of a "boom crutch" as a malfunctioning thinking tool, though. Most of the book is devoted to thinking tools that are useful to budding philosophers interested in free will, consciousness, zombies and Searle's Chinese room. Dennett spends a lot of time on his misguided critics. The David Chalmers and John Searle of the world. Alas, I can't take the opinions of these guys seriously. Dennett's side won these battles decades ago, AFAICS. There's quite a bit of material on consciousness. Finally, Dennett has a big section on free will. The controversy over free will mostly seems like a battle over what the term "free will" means. Terminology is important, but it's hard to get as excited as Dennett does over this debate. Dennett gives plenty of examples where more than just terminology is involved. However, I don't really see it - most of the real disagreement on this topic arises out of the issue of what the term "free will" means. I think that Dennett has been mostly overtaken in the "thinking tools" department by the new rationalists. For the most part, their tools are more interesting, advanced and general purpose than the ones Dennett offers here.

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Eli Robillard

A really good book, and recommended for as much as you ...

April 4, 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

A really good book, and recommended for as much as you care to get out of it. Note that a good bit of content is recycled from Dennett's earlier work. The concept, thesis and delivery are excellent, though some sections feel thinner than others and it becomes easy for the mind to wander off in later sections. While good when a book challenges the mind to wander, these were more of the sort where a shallow pool triggers a thirst for deeper waters.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Raymond D. Engstrand

Daniel Dennett and Tools for Thinking

January 5, 2014

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I am a lay-reader, probably wouldn't qualify to attend any of Dennett's classes. I first discovered Daniel Dennett in "The Mind's Eye"; a long time passing. And his fluency with the English, Greek, Chinese, (or is it Japanese) and Computer (et al.) languages is, at least, intimidating. I find Dennett a master in use of metaphor and his stories significantly restructure my "deep structure" meanings. I've read most of the first half of the book straight through. Now I'm fishing, letting chapter titles hook me into reading the chapter, or moving on (around 1 hr at a sitting). I'm looking for those chapters on how to "overwrite" the "patterns and cycles" installed in me without my "conscious or unconscious" awareness. I find it a great book for the curious at heart, and a good book for those of us who find ourselves awake in the middle of the night for reasons we cannot explain.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Goffredo Puccetti

My daily dose of Dennett

November 15, 2013

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

From time to time I find myself wanting to read Breaking the Spell or Darwin's Dangerous Idea over again and again.
Now I am using this book instead for quick daily fixes of Dennett's wit and insights. I am at 2/3 of it and I am loving it. True, as many have posted, the "wow!" factor of DDI is not there in every single page, but it still is a remarkable collection of thought provoking case histories and experiments. Highly recommended for thinkers in all fields.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Sadok Kohen

Evolution was never better explained

August 17, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Some books change you, this one sent me into an existential crisis. I never understood evolution theory so well, from both materialistic and philosophical perspective. What would you do if you unequivocally learned that you were a robot today? would you change anything? The doors this book opens are beyond explanation.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway

This item: Intuition Pumps And Other Tools for Thinking

Set up a giveaway

Amazon Music Stream millions of songs	Amazon Advertising Find, attract, and engage customers	Amazon Drive Cloud storage from Amazon	6pm Score deals on fashion brands	AbeBooks Books, art & collectibles	ACX Audiobook Publishing Made Easy

Alexa Actionable Analytics for the Web	Sell on Amazon Start a Selling Account	Amazon Business Everything For Your Business	AmazonGlobal Ship Orders Internationally	Home Services Handpicked Pros Happiness Guarantee	Amazon Inspire Digital Educational Resources

Amazon Rapids Fun stories for kids on the go	Amazon Web Services Scalable Cloud Computing Services	Audible Listen to Books & Original Audio Performances	Book Depository Books With Free Delivery Worldwide	Box Office Mojo Find Movie Box Office Data	ComiXology Thousands of Digital Comics

CreateSpace Indie Print Publishing Made Easy	DPReview Digital Photography	East Dane Designer Men's Fashion	Fabric Sewing, Quilting & Knitting	Goodreads Book reviews & recommendations	IMDb Movies, TV & Celebrities

IMDbPro Get Info Entertainment Professionals Need	Kindle Direct Publishing Indie Digital Publishing Made Easy	Prime Video Direct Video Distribution Made Easy	Shopbop Designer Fashion Brands	Woot! Deals and Shenanigans	Zappos Shoes & Clothing

Ring Smart Home Security Systems	eero WiFi Stream 4K Video in Every Room	Neighbors App Real-Time Crime & Safety Alerts	Subscribe with Amazon Discover & try subscription services	PillPack Pharmacy Simplified	Amazon Second Chance Pass it on, trade it in, give it a second life

Buy New

$16.80

Buy Used

$12.33

Other Sellers on Amazon

Follow the Author

Similar authors to follow

Intuition Pumps And Other Tools for Thinking Hardcover – May 6, 2013

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Customers who bought this item also bought

Editorial Reviews

From Bookforum

Review

Product details

Related video shorts (0)

Be the first video

147 customer reviews

Review this product

Read reviews that mention

Showing 1-8 of 147 reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Buy New $16.80

Buy Used $12.33

Sorry, there was a problem.

Sorry, there was a problem.

Other Sellers on Amazon

Follow the Author

Similar authors to follow

Intuition Pumps And Other Tools for Thinking Hardcover – May 6, 2013

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Customers who bought this item also bought

Editorial Reviews

From Bookforum

Review

Product details

Related video shorts (0)

Be the first video

147 customer reviews

Review this product

Read reviews that mention

Showing 1-8 of 147 reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Buy New

$16.80

Buy Used

$12.33