Free Will And Moral Responsibility

Question 1

What is libertarianism?

Answer 1

a philosophical belief that emphasises the importance of individual freedom and choice and sees free will as a fundamental aspect of human nature - holds that human action is not predetermined by external factors

Question 2

What is hard determinism?

Answer 2

Emphasises the importance of causation and the idea that all events (including human action) are ultimately determined by prior causes and conditions - free will is an illusion and there is no such thing as genuine moral responsibility

Question 3

Hard determinism case study

Answer 3

Leopold and Loeb case/trial of 1924

Question 4

Leopold and along case/trial of 1924

Answer 4

Clarence Darrow was one of the very first public figures who could be described as an incompatibalist. He used a hard deterministic argument to get Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb off the death sentence for murdering Bobby Franks

Question 5

Compatibalism

Answer 5

The belief that free will and determinism are mutually compatible and that it is possible to believe in both without being logically inconsistent

Question 6

Who is a compatibalist?

Answer 6

David Hume

Question 7

Summarise Hume’s compatibalism

Answer 7

Human actions are based on the regularities of human nature, however, human beings can be unpredictable. Humans are free when our actions are caused by their will. Humans are only unfree when something prevents them from doing what they want to (prison)

Question 8

Theological determinism

Answer 8

All events that happen are pre-ordained and/or predestined to happen by God

Question 9

Give an example of a theological determinist

Answer 9

John Calvin (a prominent figure in Reformed theology who believed in the doctrine of predestination)