I’ve had the same thought, inspired by similar incredulity. I wonder if there’s a feeling that anything short of strict physicalism is just a flavor of dualism. Better a philosophical zombie than a philosophical ghost?

People say and write all kinds of things. Just because this Dennet guy is known in whatever field he's in (I don't follow Western philosophy at all, it's still playing catch-up to Eastern thought from two millennia ago) doesn't mean his opinions should be taken seriously. I don't think he's a "philosophical zombie" or any other such inane term -- but people throughout the ages have believed all sorts of strange things even though the truth is sitting under our noses the whole time.

I do love these throwaways: "I don't follow Western philosophy at all, it's still playing catch-up to Eastern thought from two millennia ago". He doesn't follow it but knows it's 'playing catch-up'. Still - 'People say and write all kinds of things'. Totally agree.

I love that. Chalmers himself (or maybe Searle?) once suggested this very thing about Dennett. Made me laugh out loud when I read it.

In all seriousness I wonder if Dennett hates consciousness (the “hard” kind) because it threatens his worldview. He seems like the sort of person who finds it impossible to say “I don’t know.”