Free Will And Determinism Flashcards
Outline the free will-determinism debate
-asks a simple question: is behaviour matter of free will or are we the product of a set of internal/external influences that determine who we are and what we do
-most approaches are determinist to some extent
-but dif approaches disagree on what precise causes of human behaviour are
Eg biological approach suggests causes are internal (nature/nurture) whereas behaviourist suggests they are external
-humani embraces the concept of free will
Whats meant by free will
-notion that were are self-determining , free to choose own thoughts/behaviour
-belief in free will doesn’t deny there may be some biological/environmental forces that exert some influence , but implies we are able to reject these forces if we wish bc we are in control
-free will is a view of human behaviour ,advocated by the humanist approach
What is determinism and how does it contrast to Free will
-proposes that free will has no place in explaining behaviour, tho there are hard/soft versions
-view that an individuals behaviour is shaped by internal/external forces rather than an individuals will to do something
Whats meant by hard determinism
-sometimes fatalism
-suggests all human behaviour has a cause
-free will is an illusion
-position always assumes everything we think/do is dictated by internal/external forces that we can’t control
-but this for some, is too extreme a position
What is soft determinism
-philosopher William James put forward this notion
-became important in the cognitive approach
-thought that it may be the job of scientists to explain what determines our behaviour / predictable , but there’s also room for personal choice + doesn’t detract from freedom we have to make rational conscious choices in everyday situations
What are the types of determinism
-biological
-environmental
-psychic
What is meant by biological influences
-belief our behaviour is caused by biological - genetic, hormonal, evolutionary influences that we can’t control
-emphasises influence of autonomic nervous system on stress response or influence of genes on mental health
-modern biological psychologists would recognise mediating influence of environment on our biological structures
Whats meant by environmental determinism
-belief behaviour is caused by features of environment that we cant control
-BF skinner described free will as an ‘illusion’ + argued all behaviour is result of conditioning
-altho may think we are acting independently , our experience of ‘choice’ is merely sum total of reinforcement contingencies that have acted upon us throughout lives
Whats meant by psychic determinism
-belief that behaviour caused by unconscious psychodynamic conflicts that we can’t control
-Freud also believed free will is an ‘illusion’ but emphasised influence of biological drives
-saw human behaviour as determined by unconscious conflicts, repressed in childhood
-according to Freud, no such thing as an accident
-even something like ‘slip of the tongue’ can be explained by influence of unconscious
What is the scientific emphasis on casual explanations
-one of base principles of science is every event in universe has a cause + causes can be explained using general laws (hard determinism)
-knowledge of causes/formulation of laws = imp as allows scientists to predict/control events in future
Whats a strength of free will in that it has practical value
Common sense view is we exercise free choice in our everyday lives on daily basis
Even if this untrue, thinking we can exercise free choice can improve our mental health
Study by Roberts et al looked at adolescents who strongly believed in fatalism - their lives were ‘decided’ by events outside of control
Study found these ppl were at greater risk of developing depression
Those who exhibit more an external than internal loc = less optimistic
Suggests if we dont have free will , those who believe we do may +vely impact mind/behaviour
Whats a limitation of free will to do with research evidence
Brain scan evidence doesn’t support it, but does support determinism
Libet et al instructed ps to choose random moment to flick their wrist while he measured activity in their brain (readiness potential)
Ps had to say when they felt conscious will to move
Found unconscious brain activity leading up to conscious decision to move came around 1/2 second before participant consciously felt they had decided to move
This may interpreted as meaning that even our mst basic experiences of freeb will are acc determined by our brain before we are aware of them
Whats the counterpoint to the limitation of free will based on research evidence
But libets findings showing brain involved in decision-making is not surprising and is in fact just as we would expect
Just bc the action comes before the conscious awareness of the decision to act, doesn’t mean 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
Suggests this evidence is not appropriate as a challenge to free will
Whats a limitation of determinism + strength of free will to do with the law
The position of the legal system on responsibility
The hard determinist stance is that individual choice is not the cause of behaviour
This isn’t consistent with way in which our legal system operates
In court of law , offenders held responsible for actions
Indeed the main principle of our legal system is that a defendant exercised their free will in committing the crime
Suggests that in real world, determinist arguments dont work
Whats the benefit of taking a determinist perspective (str determinism)
Determinist approaches held establish psychology as a science
Hard determinism - biological , behaviourist - has produced many effective real-world applications - like therapies +behavioural interventions
Whats the counterpoint to benefit of determinist perspective
Free will has intuitive appeal
Most of us see ourselves as making own choices, as opposed to being ‘pushed’ by forces we cant control
Free will can also be liberating for some in terms of
‘Not accelerating ones fate’ - maybe from criminal background or mental disorder in family
X everything is determined
