Conclusions and evaluation of hard determinism

Question 1

John Locke

Answer 1

-‘freedom of choice is an illusion’

-John locke argued against the idea that the feeling of FW is a reason to believe it exists by showing now it could be an illusion
-he asks us to imagine a man in a locked room who wakes up, unaware its locked and ‘chooses’ to stay in room. feels like he’s making a choice but there was no choice available to him

Question 2

Benjamin Libet

Answer 2

-no conclusive evidence to show hard determinism as a general theory is either true or false
-for non-religious for example theological determinism is a non-starter
-for some there’s cumulative evidence in favour of determinism and recent studies in cognitive psychology are often seen to point in that direction for example Benjamin libet

Question 3

what are Libets experiments?

Answer 3

-conducted series of experiments to show that unconscious electrical processes in brain precede brains conscious decision to perform volitional acts

Question 4

what did Libets experiment show?

Answer 4

-Libets experiment seemed to show that the brain prepares to act well before we are conscious of the urge to move
-the implication of this is that will isn’t under individuals conscious control but is result of determines electrical brain processes, free will denied and mental activity determined
-however deterministic arguments were denied by Libet himself who argued that the brain has the ability to veto pre-conscious intentions and that the veto seems to be freely chosen