There has been a resurgence of interest lately within philosophy of mind and
action in the category of mental action. Against this background, the present paper aims to
question the very possibility, or at least the theoretical significance, of teasing apart mental and
bodily acts. After raising some doubts over the viability of various possible ways of drawing the
mental act/bodily act distinction, the paper draws some lessons from debates over embodied
cognition, which arguably further undermine the credibility of the distinction. The
insignificance of the distinction is demonstrated in part by showing how the focus on ‘inner’
acts hampers fruitful discussion of Galen Strawson’s skepticism of mental agency. Finally, the
possibility is discussed that a distinction between covert and overt action should supplant the
one between mental and bodily action