Are you free? Or are you just following the hidden commands of unconscious processes, genetic dispositions, social conditioning and manipulation? Philosopher JB argues that those who deny we have free will are starting with a misguided and unrealistic idea of what it is. Only by understanding what it really means to be free we can make the most of our freedom.

Dr Julian Baggini is the author, co-author or editor of over 20 books including The Virtues of the Table,The Ego Trick, Freedom Regained (all Granta) and, most recently, The Edge of Reason (Yale University Press) . He was the founding editor of The Philosophers’ Magazine and has written for numerous newspapers and magazines, as well as for the think tanks The Institute of Public Policy Research, Demos and Counterpoint. He has also appeared as a character in two Alexander McCall-Smith novels.