The physiologist Benjamin Libet famously demonstrated that activity in the motor areas of the brain can be detected about 300 milliseconds before a person feels they have decided to move. Recently, another lab used fMRI data to show that certain "conscious" decisions can be predicted up to 10 seconds before they enter consciousness (long before the readiness for movement detected by Libet). Clearly, such findings are difficult to reconcile with the feeling that we are the conscious source of our actions. The issue of free will is not merely a curiosity of philosophical seminars. Belief in free will underpins both the religious concept of "sin" and our ongoing commitment to punitive justice. The Supreme Court has described free will as a "universal and persistent" foundation for our legal system. Any scientific development that would threaten the concept of free will would call into question the morality of punishing people for their bad behavior. In the book 'Free Will,' Harris examines these ideas and asks whether, given what neuroscience reveals, we really have free will?

Pages: 96, Year of Publication: 0426, Dimensions: 14.3x14.3cm