Free Will Flashcards
Free Will:
The ability to act at ones own discretion, without the constraints of necessity or fate
Libertarianism:
The idea that we have free will and are not determined to act in a particular way
Hard Determinism:
The idea that we do not have free will and are not in control of our own actions
Compatibilism (Soft determinism)
The idea that we are subject to determinism, but this does not mean we lack free will
Who is the Libertarianist Theistic scholar?
Augustine
Who is the Secular Libertarianist scholar?
Jean Paul Sartre
Who is the Scientific Determinist Scholar?
Isaac Newton
Who is the Theological Determinist Scholar?
John Calvin
Who is the Theistic Compatibilist scholar?
Aristotle
Who is the Secular Compatibilist scholar?
David Hume
Who is the psychological Determinist Scholar?
B.F.Skinner
What are the names of St Augustine’s texts?
‘On the Free Choice Of the Will’ and ‘Confessions’
Who did Augustine believe misused free will?
Adam and Eve (in the book of Genesis)
Who did Augustine believe misused free will?
Adam and Eve (in the book of Genesis)
What is the name of Jean Paul Sartre’s school of beliefs?
Atheistic existentialism
What was the name of Jean Paul Sartre’s text?
Existentialism is a Humanism (1957)
What phrase best summaries Jean Paul Sartre’s beliefs?
Existence before Essence
What allows God to know and control the future according to John Calvin?
He is Omniscient and Omnipotent
What phrase best summarises John Calvin’s beliefs on free will?
“For he does not create everyone in the same condition, but ordains eternal life for some and eternal damnation for others”
What is the name of the common theory in Scientific Determinism?
The Theory of Universal Causation
What is the name of Aristotle’s text?
Nicomachean ethics
What sentence summarises Aristotle’s view of free will?
“On some actions praise indeed is not bestowed, but pardon is, when one does what he ought not under pressure which over strains human nature and which no one should withstand”
What is Liberty to David Hume?
“A power of acting or not acting according to the destinations of the will”
What is Necessity according to David Hume?
Cause and effect which can be derived from induction (e.g, ‘the sun will always rise in the morning’)
Does Buddhism have a definite position on free will?
No
What Buddhist concepts can be related to free will
Anatta, anicca, karma, 12 nidamas, 8 fold path
What is anicca?
The belief that all things are impermanent
What is Anatta?
The belief that there is no fixed ‘I’ or ‘Self’
What are the 3 sections of behavioral learning theory?
Classical conditioning, Operant conditioning and observational learning
