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From Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium

Daniel Clement Dennett is professor of philosophy at Tufts, and author of several best-selling books including Breaking the Spell, Freedom Evolves and Darwin's Dangerous Idea. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1942, the son of a historian of the same name, and grew up in New England. After attending Phillips Exeter Academy and Wesleyan University, he received his BA in philosophy from Harvard College in 1965. Richard Dawkins has called him his intellectual hero.

With regards to free will, Dennett is a compatibilist - that is someone who believes that free will and determinism are not mutually exclusive - arguing that our idea of free will is a cultural evolution in a deterministic, but not fatalistic, universe^[1][2]. Dennett has also written widely on the subject of consciousness, the philosophy of mind and religion. He is, along with Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens, labeled (often disparagingly) a New Atheist.

References

1. ↑ Galen Strawson, Evolution Explains It All For You, New York Times.
2. ↑ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Compatibilism §5.2 Multiple Views Compatibilism