Dennett back from the brink of death
November 3, 2006Dan Dennett, famous philosopher-atheist (is that redundant?) had a brush with death recently (a “dissection of the aorta”), and now writes about it (Thank Goodness!). Did he give up his atheism when on death’s door? What do you think? Here’s a bit of his report:
Had I had an epiphany… or was my atheism still intact and unchanged?
Yes, I did have an epiphany. I saw with greater clarity than ever before in my life that when I say “Thank goodness!” this is not merely a euphemism for “Thank God!”… There is a lot of goodness in this world, and more goodness every day, and this fantastic human-made fabric of excellence is genuinely responsible for the fact that I am alive today. It is a worthy recipient of the gratitude I feel today, and I want to celebrate that fact here and now.
To whom, then, do I owe a debt of gratitude? To the cardiologist who has kept me alive and ticking for years, and who swiftly and confidently rejected the original diagnosis of nothing worse than pneumonia. To the surgeons, neurologists, anesthesiologists, and the perfusionist, who kept my systems going for many hours under daunting circumstances…
What, though, do I say to those of my religious friends (and yes, I have quite a few religious friends) who have had the courage and honesty to tell me that they have been praying for me? I have gladly forgiven them, for there are few circumstances more frustrating than not being able to help a loved one in any more direct way… I have resisted the temptation to respond “Thanks, I appreciate it, but did you also sacrifice a goat?” I feel about this the same way I would feel if one of them said “I just paid a voodoo doctor to cast a spell for your health.” What a gullible waste of money that could have been spent on more important projects! Don’t expect me to be grateful, or even indifferent. I do appreciate the affection and generosity of spirit that motivated you, but wish you had found a more reasonable way of expressing it…
It’s a good read; go check the rest out yourself. Get well soon, Dan.
No Responses to “Dennett back from the brink of death”
1) It is great to see that the heart surgery doesn’t seem to have dimished Dennett’s supply and use of his (his word) “cogitons”; no brain fog here.
2) But I would not be surprised if at least some of those friends who prayed for him were rather put off by his statement about them, and perhaps are justified in feeling that way. When a recipient of well-intentioned acts (even misguided ones–in this case, prayers) publically “forgives” his would-be do-gooders for their acts, that has got to rankle with a mixture of humiliation and ingratitude. Despite agreeing with his take on prayers, I’m not sure Dennett has made a good choice in addressing his prayer-senders in this way, because one needs to know when to pick one’s battles; this context, in which his life was on the line and religious well-wishers were generally concerned about him, was arguably not a good time (morally or “pedagogically”) for a lesson in rationality.
Or I could be wrong–perhaps it is exactly the right time despite the sting of the lesson. Dennett apparently thought so. I just question it.
By cm on Nov 6, 2006
If somebody didn’t know I was an atheist and told me they prayed for me when I was sick, I’d likely thank them for their good wishes for me, and gently point out that as an atheist I didn’t believe in any of the supernatural part of it. But if they know I’m an atheist and choose to tell me that, I think it would be appropriate to turn up the sting. And who knows Dan Dennett well enough to have such a conversation with him but doesn’t know he’s an atheist?
By ron on Nov 7, 2006
Good point; for the sake of sussing it out may I continue a bit…
First, I bet there are a number of people who are in that category of knowing Dennett well enough to care he does well medically but not knowing he’s an atheist–though his close friends, colleagues, and family obviously know.
I’m still not sure one ought to turn up the sting even for those who know, though, because it is a case of pitting the degree of one harm with the degree of another harm: on one side you have the vanishingly small harm of the annoyance of being reminded of someone continuing to maintain their irrational belief system and acting on it in a way that does no direct harm (praying), and on the other you have a web-published indictment of well-wishers as foolish and harmful.
It just strikes me as misguided to ever utter “Please don’t pray for me”, since, in prayer, when one uses one’s larynx and folded hands–if not one’s mind–in a quiet moment it has no effect on another’s life. Really the request is a placeholder for the real sentiment: “Please don’t believe what you believe.” Moreso, it strikes me as all the more misguided to actually *admonish* the person for praying, because one is essentially admonishing them for their belief…and that just doesn’t seem to be effective. To bring it into relief, imagine dressing down a 75 year old Christian woman who has built her whole life around her church after she in earnest told you she was praying for your health.
Now if I can be convinced that the delivery of the sting of reproach does some good, that’s a different story.
By cm on Nov 7, 2006
I find it pretty implausible that anybody knows Dennett much at all without knowing he’s an outspoken atheist. He’s surely one of the handful of most famous atheists in the US. And of course, I’d count the encouragement of prayer (and the associated beliefs) that public embracing of prayer brings as a “harm” in prayer. And the point of the “sting” is to help them realize that the options people they care about in the world take are less parochial than their narrow little view of everybody embracing their particular brand of supernatural reciting of magical words. As for your imagined old woman, she seems to fall into my original “oblivious” group, and shouldn’t at all be “dressed down” — just gently reminded that even people she cares about don’t necessarily share her view of the supernatural and its role in our health and well-being.
By ron on Nov 8, 2006