Free will and determinism Flashcards
Free will
- the idea that an individual can make choices
- and their behaviour is not determined by internal or external forces
Free will
Approach
-humanistic approach
Determinism
- the idea that individual cannot make choices
- and that their behaviour is determined by internal or external forces
Types of determinism
List
Hard determinism Soft determinism Biological determinism Environmental determinism Psychic determinism
Hard determinism
- implies that free will is not possible
- and that all out behaviour is controlled by internal or external forces
Soft determinism
- implies that all events have causes
- but that behaviour can also be determined by our conscious choices in the absence of coercion
Soft determinism
Person
William James (1890)
Soft determinism
Approach
-cognitive approach
Biological determinism
-the belief that behaviour is caused by BIOLOGICAL INFLUENCES that we cannot control
└e.g. genetic, hormonal, evolutionary
Biological determinism
Approach
-biological approach
Environmental determinism
-the belief that behaviour is caused by FEATURES OF THE ENVIRONMENT that we cannot control
└e.g. systems of reward and punishment
Environmental determinism
Approach
-social learning theory
Psychic determinism
-the belief that behaviour is caused by UNCONSCIOUS CONFLICTS that we cannot control
Psychic determinism
Approach
-psychodynamic approach
Determinism
Strengths
-determinism is consistent with the aims of science
-led to the development of treatments e.g. psychotherapeutic drug treatment in controlling schizophrenia
-mental illness seems determined
└e.g. schizophrenia, no one would ‘choose’ to have schizophrenia
