free-will and determinism Flashcards
what is the free will-determinism debate?
it asks a simple question - is our behaviour a matter of free will or are we the product of a set of internal and/or external influences that determine who we are and what we do?
what is free will?
the notion that humans can make choices and their behaviour/thoughts are not determined by biological or external forces
what is determinism?
the view that an individual’s behaviour is shaped or controlled by internal or external forces rather than an individual’s will to do something
what is hard determinism?
the view that all behaviour is caused by something (internal or external factors), so free will is an illusion (sometimes referred to as fatalism)
what is soft determinism?
the view that behaviour may be predictable (caused by internal/external factors) but there is also room for personal choice from a limited range of possibilities (restricted by free will)
what is biological determinism?
the belief that behaviour is caused by biological genetic, hormonal, evolutionary) influences that we cannot control (influence of the autonomic nervous system on the stress response)
what is environmental determinism?
the belief that behaviour is caused by features of the environment (such as systems of reward and punishment) that we cannot control
what is psychic determinism?
the belief that behaviour is caused by unconscious psychodynamic conflicts (repressed in childhood) that we cannot control
what is the scientific emphasis on causal explanations?
one of the basic principles of science is that every event in the universe has a cause and that causes can be explained using general laws (hard determinism)
what is the practical value strength?
free has practical value,
we exercise free choice in our everyday lives on a daily basis, however thinking we do exercise free choice can improve our mental health,
Roberts eat al: looked at adolescents who had a strong belief in fatalism -that their lives were ‘decided’ by events outside of their control,
the study found that these adolescents were at significantly greater risk of developing depression, it seems that people who exhibit an external, rather than internal locus or control are less likely to be optimistic,
this suggests that, even if we do not have free will, the fact that we believe we do may have a positive impact on mind and behaviour
what is the research evidence limitation?
brain scan evidence does not support free will but does support determinism,
Liber et al: instructed participants to choose a random moment to flick their wrist while he measured activity in their brain, participants had to say when they felt the conscious will to move,
Libel found that the unconscious brain activity leading up to the conscious decision to move came around half a second before the participant consciously felt they had decided to move.
this may be interpreted as meaning that even our most basic experiences
of free will are actually determined by our brain before we are aware of them
what is the research evidence counterpoint?
however, Libets findings showing that the brain is involved in decision-making is not surprising,
just because the action comes before the conscious awareness of the decision to act, doesn’t mean that there was no decision to act - just that the decision to act took time to reach consciousness, our conscious awareness of the decision is simply a ‘read-out’ of our unconscious decision-making,
this suggests this evidence is not appropriate as a challenge to free will
what is the law limitation?
lim of determinism is the position of the legal system on responsibility,
the hard determinist stance is that individual choice is not the cause of behaviour, this is not consistent with the way in which our legal system operates,
in a court of law, offenders are held responsible for their actions, the main principle of our legal system is that a defendant exercised their free will in committing the crime,
this suggests that, in the real world, determinist arguments do not work
do we want determinism strength?
determinist approaches helped establish psychology as a science,
hard determinism (biological & behaviourist approaches) has produced many real-world applications,
these include therapies and behaviourist interventions
do we want determinism limitation?
however, free will has intuitive appeal,
most of us see ourselves as making our won choices rather than being ‘pushed’ by forces we cannot control,
free will may also be liberating for some people in terms of ‘not accepting someone’s fate’ - if they come from a criminal background or there is mental disorder in their family
