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Religious Studies: Ethics > 4B: Determinism > Flashcards

4B: Determinism Flashcards

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1
Q

What is determinism?

A

The idea that all actions are determined by causes and laws outside our control

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2
Q

What is hard determinism?

A

The view which denies that humanity has free will and states that all actions have a prior cause. It removes moral responsibility from actions

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3
Q

What is soft determinism?

A

The view which states we can be both determined and free, as some of our moral choices are free but aspects of our nature are determined

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4
Q

What is another name for soft determinism?

A

compatibilism

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5
Q

What did John Locke believe?

A
  • because everything that happens is the result of a cause that came before it, everything that happens is determined to happen in a certain way
  • Because the world will is like a big cause-and-effect machine, there’s no way of changing what’s going to happen in the future and we have no free will: “Free will is just an illusion”
  • There is an unbreakable chain of past causes going back to the beginning of time
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6
Q

John Locke’s locked room analogy

A
  • He asked his readers to imagine a man in a locked room who does not know that it’s locked
  • The man thinks he can leave at any time, but in fact cannot
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7
Q

How does Locke’s locked room analogy relate to determinism?

A

We think we are free to do what we want, but really this is only an illusion and we are determined to do certain things

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8
Q

What is scientific determinism?

A

the idea that all events in the universe are caused, and in principle, predictable

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9
Q

Which scientist is most influential on hard determinism?

A

Charles Darwin

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10
Q

What does scientific determinism suggest?

A

randomness is not intrinsic: just a reflection of our lack of information

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11
Q

What did Newton mean by the universe being a ‘closed system’?

A

Energy is conserved and finite. Nothing can come into the universe from outside, to make up for energy spent in other forms

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12
Q

What do Newton’s laws suggest?

A

We live in a mechanical, clockwork universe: everything is determined by physical forces, and these forces can be predicted and known

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13
Q

What discovery did Quantum Physics make?

A

It is impossible to know both where a particle is, and where it is going. It can be anywhere, there are only probabilities.

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14
Q

What does the Human Genome Project suggest?

A
  • our DNA can code for our physical appearance, intelligence, and even behaviour
  • This means it could be that we are all determined to act in certain ways by our genes
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15
Q

What did Daniel Dennett mean by ‘genetic fixity’?

A

the genes of parents inevitably determine the characteristics of their children

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16
Q

Quote from Nusslein-Volhard

A

“in the fertilised egg, the genetic program is complete”
- implies a moral agent’s programmed life is decided at conception

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17
Q

What foundings by the Human Genome Project support genetic fixity?

A
  • Addiction: multiple genes can add up to make a moral agent susceptible to addiction. Eg a particular gene can make one moral agent feel sick to a particular stimulus but another moral agent to feel happy to the same stimuli, making it harder for the latter moral agent to give up the stimuli; thus, increasing their risk of addiction. Therefore, whether a moral agent is an addict could purely be determined by a series of genetics.
  • Homosexuality: A recent study carried out by Doctor Tuck Ngun on 47 pairs of identical twins found that nine small regions of the human genetic code played a key role in deciding whether a moral agent is heterosexual or homosexual. So confident with their findings, Ngun’s team predicted it was possible to carry out a DNA test on a baby to predict their sexual orientation with 70% accuracy.
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18
Q

Stephen Mobley case

A
  • He murdered a Domino’s pizza store manager and tried to avoid execution by claiming the murder was a result of a mutation in a specific gene
  • The judge turned down the appeal, saying the law was not ready to accept such evidence
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19
Q

Abdelmalek Bayout case

A
  • He murdered a man who he claimed insulted him
  • He was found guilty, but his sentence was reduced by a year as it was illustrated that he had the mutated MAOA gene
  • The judge accepted that Bayout had had no control over his violent actions
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20
Q

What is the MAOA gene?

A

a gene which is a determining cause of violence

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21
Q

What is Locke’s ‘nurture’ idea?

A

We are a ‘blank slate’ on which our environment writes our personality

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22
Q

How did Darwin describe natural selection in ‘Origin of Species’?

A
  • The way which creatures are challenged by their environment, and only the fittest or best adapted creatures survive - so only their characteristics get passed on
  • Even though genes had not yet been discovered, Darwin realised that the characteristics creatures had were inherited, and could be explained by this long process of evolutionary adaptation and change. Who we are, is the product of evolution.
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23
Q

How did Dawkins further Darwin’s ideas in “The Selfish Gene”?

A
  • creatures are simply gene-carriers, whose sole purpose is to pass on their genes to the next generation
  • Our human plans and ideas do not count.
24
Q

How was Dawkins criticised for his ideas?

A

People argued that altruism should therefore be impossible: if genes are selfish, why would any creature act for the benefit of others, rather than themselves?

25
Q

How did Dawkins reply to critics?

A

He stated that altruism existed because one creature’s sacrifice could help other members of the family/ tribe to survive, and that was why evolution had allowed an “altruistic” gene to exist. There is no noble instinct of self-sacrifice that creatures are free or not free to act on. It has all been biologically determined.

26
Q

What analogy does Dennett give to support his idea of genetic fixity?

A

A wasp: to feed her hatching eggs, the wasp brings a paralysed cricket into her nest, but only up to the entrance, in exactly the same spot. If it is moved at all, she will move it back, but never any further into the burrow, even though this would save the wasp the effort of constantly checking up on it.

27
Q

What are epigenetics?

A

genes are affected by the environment, and this can change the characteristic that an animal or a living system has

28
Q

What is the name of Dawkins’ book?

A

“The Selfish Gene”

29
Q

What did Dawkins suggest in his book?

A

creatures are simply gene carriers, whose sole and biological purpose is to pass on their genes to the next generation

30
Q

What are some environmental influences which may affect gene expression?

A
  • Personality may be affected by upbringing: a child may copy its parents behaviours instinctively. John Watson: “Give me a dozen healthy infants and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train them to become any type of specialist”
  • Health: nature advocates argue genetics have a high impact on obesity and high blood pressure. nurture proponents point to the poor eating habits and lifestyle leading to high stress levels
  • Homosexuality: nature proponents believe it is genetic and point to particular genes. nurture proponents also point to twin studies, parenting styles, and cultural influences
  • Occupation; a persons ability to perform in a certain occupation also leads to a nature vs nature debate
31
Q

Who developed the idea of classical conditioning?

A

Ivan Pavlov

32
Q

What is Classical Conditioning?

A
  • Pavlov found that if he rang a bell when he gave dogs food, their mouths would eventually water on reflex if he just rang the bell by itself, even without the food
  • The dogs had been subconsciously ‘conditioned’ to salivate when they heard the sound of a bell, potentially showing they weren’t in control of their actions
  • Pavlov hypothesised that all human actions are just conditioned responses that arise from our environments
33
Q

What did Pavlov define conditioning as?

A

the subconscious repeating of behaviour to certain environment conditions

34
Q

How did John Watson further Pavlov’s work?

A
  • He took an 8 month old baby who had previously shown no fear of rats
  • The baby’s neutral stimulus was a loud sound just behind his head, which made him have the unconditioned reflex of crying
  • Every time the rat appeared, Watson made the loud sound and the baby cried
  • Watson eventually presented the ray to the baby but made no noise; the baby still cried
  • The baby had been conditioned to produce the unconditioned reflex of crying to the sight of a rat
  • In fact, the baby had generalised his fear to all furry objects
35
Q

Who developed the idea of operant conditioning?

A

BF Skinner

36
Q

What is operant conditioning?

A
  • emphasises how behaviour can be conditioned through both negative punishments and positive rewards
  • Skinner (like Pavlov) also argued that all human actions are the result of operant conditioning and so are determined
37
Q

How is operant conditioning similar to and different from classical conditioning?

A
  • Operant conditioning requires rewards and punishments either being given or received
  • Classical conditioning involves pairing stimuli such as natural reflexes with environmental pairing to show determined responses
38
Q

Who was Clarence Darrow?

A

An American attorney who defended two boys who murdered a 14 year old called Bobby Frank. The two murderers were rich and intelligent and planned a perfect crime to illustrate their superiority over society

39
Q

How did Darrow change the teenagers sentence from death penalty to life?

A

He argued the boys were a product of their upbringing
- He thought criminals should still be sent to prison to protect society, but argued in court it shouldn’t be assumed they are responsible for their actions

40
Q

What is soft determinism?

A
  • the view that all of our actions are determined, but we’re still free
  • it holds that all we mean by freedom is that we are the cause of our own actions, but these actions are still predetermined
41
Q

Who are two soft determinists?

A

Thomas Hobbes and AJ Ayer

42
Q

Why are soft determinists sometimes called compatibilists?

A

They see free will and determinism working together

43
Q

Who coined the term ‘soft determinism’?

A

William James

44
Q

Who coined the term ‘internal and external causes’?

A

Thomas Hobbes

45
Q

What is an external cause?

A

An external factor that coerces you to do only one thing. No other choices can be considered or actual. This is NOT freedom.
- Caused by something outside of us
- Someone forces a moral agent to do something against their predetermined will

46
Q

What is an internal cause?

A
  • The result of your deliberation between possibilities and involves conscious acceptance of such influences
  • Influenced by internal factors (eg psychology or genes) but allows for possibilities
  • We do not feel forced to accept one alternative; this is freedom
  • An action caused by something in us
  • The choice moral agents make for themselves
47
Q

What do determinist supporters suggest internal choices are determined by?

A

Causation, conditioning and genetics

48
Q

Who is Ayer?

A

A logical positivist; says philosophical claims should be testable scientifically

49
Q

What does Ayer mean by ‘coerced’ and ‘forced’?

A
  • If someone restricts you, you say you were coerced/forced
  • If there was no external restriction you will say “something caused me too…”
  • You don’t say you were forced or coerced by that internal cause
50
Q

What determinism did Ayer support?

A

Soft

51
Q

When does Ayer say the moral agent will use the phrase ‘caused’?

A

in a soft determinist situation

52
Q

When does Ayer say the moral agent will use the phrase ‘forced’?

A

A hard determinist situation
- the moral agent is determined by an internal and external cause

53
Q

How does Ayer conclude there is a distinction between classical soft and hard determinism?

A
  • Moral agents make a language distinction between hard determinism (where external and internal causes forcibly determine an event) and soft determinism (only an internal cause is causing an event, but there’s no external cause)
54
Q

What was Ayer’s analogy?

A
  • If he walked across a room because someone compelled him, observers would conclude he wasn’t acting freely and this ‘forced’ movement was determined
  • But if he walked across a room without being compelled by another, observers would still assume it had a cause because all actions must be willed by the moral agent
  • However they wouldn’t say he was forced because there was no external force placed upon him because there was no external force at the moment of walking across the room
55
Q

Explain the difference between hard and soft determinism

A
  • Hard determinism: denies their humanity has free will and that all actions have a prior cause. Removes moral responsibilities from actions
  • Soft determinism: although all our actions are determined, we’re still free. Sees determinism as ‘compatible’ with human freedom. All we mean by freedom is that we are the cause of our own actions, but these actions are still pre determined
56
Q

Explain Hobbes’ contribution to soft determinism

A
  • 2 ways in which we can be determined;
    1. external cause which coerces you into doing one thing; no other choices can be considered
    2. internal cause: the result of deliberation between possibilities. involves conscious acceptance of such influences. allows for possibilities we don’t feel forced to accept

Religious Studies: Ethics (20 decks)

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