free will and determinism A03 Flashcards
practical value
P) One strength of free will (rather than determinism) is its practical value.
E) The common-sense view is that we exercise free choice in our everyday lives on a daily basis. However, even if this is not the case, thinking we do exercise free choice can improve our mental health.
E) A study by Rebecca Roberts et al. (2000) 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 of control are less likely to be optimistic.
L) 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.
research evidence
P) One limitation of free will is that brain scan evidence does not support it but does support determinism.
E) Benjamin Libet et al. (1983) instructed participants to choose a random moment to flick their wrist while he measured activity in their brain (readiness potential). Participants had to say when they felt the conscious will to move.
E) Libet 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.
L) 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
research evidence counterpoint
However, Libet’s findings showing that the brain is involved in decision-making is not surprising and is, in fact, just as we would expect. 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.
the law
P) One limitation of determinism (and strength of free will) is the position of the legal system on responsibility.
E) 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.
E) In a court of law, offenders are held responsible for their actions.
Indeed, the main principle of our legal system is that a defendant exercised their free will in committing the crime
L) This suggests that, in the real world, determinist arguments do not work.
