David A. Haig is George Putnam Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University.Daniel C. Dennett is University Professor Codirector of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University. He is the author of Brainchildren: Essays on Designing Minds; Sweet Dreams: Philosophical Obstacles to a Science of Consciousness; Elbow Room: The Varieties of Free Will Worth Wanting; Sweet Dreams: Philosophical Obstacles to a Science of Consciousness (all published by the MIT Press), From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Mind, and other books.

"A challenging though rewarding exploration of the meaning and purpose of life."—Kirkus Reviews"What, Haig asks, is the teleological purpose of consciousness? In the case of human beings, our consciousness is designed to interpret, through an evolved instinct of sympathy, the subjective attitudes and intentions of others."—CHOICE“David Haig's powerful mind and trenchant wit are fully matched by his caring heart and his gracious style. I shall be recommending this book to my students, giving it to my friends, and sampling it repeatedly.”—Stephen C. Stearns, Edward P. Bass Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University; author of Evolutionary Medicine“Haig's book could be a game-changer in the fraught relation between the biological sciences and philosophy. Its intriguing moral may be his dauntingly scientific first thirteen chapters legitimize and actually call for the kind of philosophical thinking that his last chapters unabashedly exemplify.”—Richard Schacht, Jubilee Professor of Philosophy (Emeritus), University of Illinois“In this profound and witty book, David Haig rediscovers Aristotle's four causes and tackles the foundations of biology and philosophy (and their joint history). He offers a subtle yet far-reaching, reinterpretation of genetics, culture, and the nature and meaning of meaning. Read it; he writes, and rewrites, all of us.”—Eric Schliesser, Professor, Political Science, University of Amsterdam, and Visiting Scholar, Smith Institute for Political Economy and Philosophy, Chapman University

• Foreword by Daniel C. Dennett xiPrologue: From the Beginning Was the Word xxi1 Barren Virgins 12 Social Genes 173 The "Gene" Meme 534 Differences That Make a Difference 735 Limber Robots and Lumbering Genes 1016 Intrapersonal Conflict 1257 Scratching Your Own Back 1438 Reflexions on Self 1659 How Come? What For? Why? 18310 Sameness and Difference 20311 Fighting the Good Cause 233Interlude 27112 Making Sense 281X Vive la differance 31713 On the Origin of Meaning 32114 On the Past and Future of Freedom 34715 Darwinian Hermeneutics 359Cadenza 379Appendix (a Vestigial Organ): Words about Words 381Acknowledgments 393References 395Sources 435Index 437

David A. Haig is George Putnam Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University.Daniel C. Dennett is University Professor Codirector of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University. He is the author of Brainchildren: Essays on Designing Minds; Sweet Dreams: Philosophical Obstacles to a Science of Consciousness; Elbow Room: The Varieties of Free Will Worth Wanting; Sweet Dreams: Philosophical Obstacles to a Science of Consciousness (all published by the MIT Press), From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Mind, and other books.

"A challenging though rewarding exploration of the meaning and purpose of life."—Kirkus Reviews"What, Haig asks, is the teleological purpose of consciousness? In the case of human beings, our consciousness is designed to interpret, through an evolved instinct of sympathy, the subjective attitudes and intentions of others."—CHOICE“David Haig's powerful mind and trenchant wit are fully matched by his caring heart and his gracious style. I shall be recommending this book to my students, giving it to my friends, and sampling it repeatedly.”—Stephen C. Stearns, Edward P. Bass Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University; author of Evolutionary Medicine“Haig's book could be a game-changer in the fraught relation between the biological sciences and philosophy. Its intriguing moral may be his dauntingly scientific first thirteen chapters legitimize and actually call for the kind of philosophical thinking that his last chapters unabashedly exemplify.”—Richard Schacht, Jubilee Professor of Philosophy (Emeritus), University of Illinois“In this profound and witty book, David Haig rediscovers Aristotle's four causes and tackles the foundations of biology and philosophy (and their joint history). He offers a subtle yet far-reaching, reinterpretation of genetics, culture, and the nature and meaning of meaning. Read it; he writes, and rewrites, all of us.”—Eric Schliesser, Professor, Political Science, University of Amsterdam, and Visiting Scholar, Smith Institute for Political Economy and Philosophy, Chapman University

• Foreword by Daniel C. Dennett xiPrologue: From the Beginning Was the Word xxi1 Barren Virgins 12 Social Genes 173 The "Gene" Meme 534 Differences That Make a Difference 735 Limber Robots and Lumbering Genes 1016 Intrapersonal Conflict 1257 Scratching Your Own Back 1438 Reflexions on Self 1659 How Come? What For? Why? 18310 Sameness and Difference 20311 Fighting the Good Cause 233Interlude 27112 Making Sense 281X Vive la differance 31713 On the Origin of Meaning 32114 On the Past and Future of Freedom 34715 Darwinian Hermeneutics 359Cadenza 379Appendix (a Vestigial Organ): Words about Words 381Acknowledgments 393References 395Sources 435Index 437

David A. Haig is George Putnam Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University.Daniel C. Dennett is University Professor Codirector of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University. He is the author of Brainchildren: Essays on Designing Minds; Sweet Dreams: Philosophical Obstacles to a Science of Consciousness; Elbow Room: The Varieties of Free Will Worth Wanting; Sweet Dreams: Philosophical Obstacles to a Science of Consciousness (all published by the MIT Press), From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Mind, and other books.

"A challenging though rewarding exploration of the meaning and purpose of life."—Kirkus Reviews"What, Haig asks, is the teleological purpose of consciousness? In the case of human beings, our consciousness is designed to interpret, through an evolved instinct of sympathy, the subjective attitudes and intentions of others."—CHOICE“David Haig's powerful mind and trenchant wit are fully matched by his caring heart and his gracious style. I shall be recommending this book to my students, giving it to my friends, and sampling it repeatedly.”—Stephen C. Stearns, Edward P. Bass Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University; author of Evolutionary Medicine“Haig's book could be a game-changer in the fraught relation between the biological sciences and philosophy. Its intriguing moral may be his dauntingly scientific first thirteen chapters legitimize and actually call for the kind of philosophical thinking that his last chapters unabashedly exemplify.”—Richard Schacht, Jubilee Professor of Philosophy (Emeritus), University of Illinois“In this profound and witty book, David Haig rediscovers Aristotle's four causes and tackles the foundations of biology and philosophy (and their joint history). He offers a subtle yet far-reaching, reinterpretation of genetics, culture, and the nature and meaning of meaning. Read it; he writes, and rewrites, all of us.”—Eric Schliesser, Professor, Political Science, University of Amsterdam, and Visiting Scholar, Smith Institute for Political Economy and Philosophy, Chapman University

• Foreword by Daniel C. Dennett xiPrologue: From the Beginning Was the Word xxi1 Barren Virgins 12 Social Genes 173 The "Gene" Meme 534 Differences That Make a Difference 735 Limber Robots and Lumbering Genes 1016 Intrapersonal Conflict 1257 Scratching Your Own Back 1438 Reflexions on Self 1659 How Come? What For? Why? 18310 Sameness and Difference 20311 Fighting the Good Cause 233Interlude 27112 Making Sense 281X Vive la differance 31713 On the Origin of Meaning 32114 On the Past and Future of Freedom 34715 Darwinian Hermeneutics 359Cadenza 379Appendix (a Vestigial Organ): Words about Words 381Acknowledgments 393References 395Sources 435Index 437