“A good illustration of why the scientist needs the philosopher can be found in Daniel C. Dennett’s new book, Freedom Evolves, in a fine discussion of the experimental data of Benjamin Libet … which show that the neural activity that begins an action starts up around a third of a second before the agent’s conscious decision to act.

“Neuroscientists have frequently interpreted this as showing that decisions are somehow illusions. Dennett excels at revealing the philosophical mistakes at work here… He shows the fallacy in supposing that the will, if it exists at all, would have to be a kind of intervention from the spirit-world, taking place behind and before physical activity….”