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Ethics > Free Will & Determinism > Flashcards

Free Will & Determinism Flashcards

1
Q

Doctrine of original sin - Augustine

A

Led to a defect in human character - concupiscence which is a give in to desire for earthly pleasures
It overrrides our ability to choose right
Every moral agent is predestined to be a sinner

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2
Q

Massa peccati

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Mass sin - all humanity is born of this

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3
Q

Liberium arbitrium

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Free will - humans have to ability to make free choices but we are pres destined to choose the wrong one

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4
Q

Predestination - Augustine

A

God’s grace is given as he does not want all humanity to be in a constant state of sin
The elect are chosen to be purged of their sins
Christ only died to save the elect

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5
Q

Calvin’s doctrine of election

A

Some moral agents would receive salvation but it is God alone who chooses
People have also been chosen to be reprobates - double predestination
Divine mystery why an individual was chosen

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6
Q

Indicators of the elect

A

‘The calling of God’ - moral agent has inward certainty that God has chosen them for salvation
The elect would generally be hardworking and honest
May still sin but will seek forgiveness

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7
Q

Indicators of the reprobates

A

Laziness, alcoholism
May display elements of moral goodness but will ultimately fall prey to sin
Will not seek Christ when they sin

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8
Q

The Synod of Dort

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Total depravity - humans are totally corrupted by sin because of the fall
Unconditional election - God alone chooses the elect
Limited atonement - Christ’s death was for the elect only
Irresistible grace - humans cannot reject being chosen by God
Perseverance of the elect - the elect will never stop believing in God

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9
Q

Pelagius

A

Focuses on God’s omnibenevolence, disagreeing with the inheritance of original sin
Moral agents grow towards God’s image, and can choose to use their free will to obey God’s moral law
A benevolent God would not create commandments that humans cannot follow
God’s grace is necessary to ‘do good works’

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10
Q

Role of ‘grace’ - Pelagius

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Grace in the form of free will - humans can make moral decisions which aren’t corrupted by sin
Grace in the form of revelation - God gives laws and guidance to help us make the right decisions
Grace of salvation - Jesus sets the example of how to behave

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11
Q

Arminius

A

God sends the Holy Spirit to help people choose to do the right thing
The Holy Spirit can only guide humans towards God
The election of believers is conditional of faith

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12
Q

Rejection of predestination - Arminius

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Arminius argued that just because God has ‘foreknowledge’ of events, does not mean he has chosen them to happen
God can know what will happen without choosing that these events should happen
God instead has ‘middle knowledge’

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13
Q

The Five Articles of Remonstrance

A

Conditional election - salvation is conditional on faith
Unlimited atonement - Jesus died for the sins of all humanity
Total depravity - humans have not got the power to resist sins by themselves
Resistible grace is necessary - God’s grace is a guide, humans are free to reject this
Evil can be resisted - it is possible to turn away from Christ but faith can resist the temptation of evil

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14
Q

Implications of Predestination - omnipotence

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Predestination is a strong illustration of God’s power
Belief in free will is incompatible with human dependence on God
Calvin’s unconditional election supports omnipotence - chosen the elect already

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15
Q

Implications of Predestination - omnibenevolence

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Predestination is an example of God’s benevolence - Augustine
God shows his loving nature through grace as he saves the elect
However God only chooses some moral agents to be saved
If God predetermines our actions he must be responsible for moral evil as he decides how we will act

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16
Q

Arminius on omnipotence and benevolence

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‘Man is not an automaton in the hands of God’

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17
Q

Implications of Predestination - prayer

A

If God has predestined humanity, there is little point in asking God for anything
However, the point of prayer is not to change God’s will but to enable the elect to develop a relationship with God

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18
Q

Calvin’s view on prayer

A

To keep humans properly focused on God
To keep the mind open to God so that humans think of less sinful actions
To allow humans to show gratitude

19
Q

Implications of Predestination - miracles

A

God predestined all miracles to occur
Rules out miracles in response to spontaneous prayer and miraculous healings as a response to spontaneous prayer

20
Q

Calvin’s view on miracles

A

Suspicious of contemporary miracles
Ones in the Bible were predestined by God

21
Q

Religious believers & predestination - scripture (should/shouldn’t)

A

‘A persons days are determined’ - should
‘For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son’ - should
‘Choose for yourselves Thsi day whom you will serve’ - shouldn’t
‘If the son sets you free, you shall be free indeed’ - shouldn’t

22
Q

Religious believers & predestination - scholarship (should/shouldn’t)

A

Augustine and Calvin have wider theological support - should
Council of Carthage validated Augustine’s predestination - should
Mormons have accepted many of Pelagius’ theories - shouldn’t
Buddhism teaches that we are able to control our own destiny - shouldn’t
Methodist church’s ‘doctrine of salvation’ is based entirely on Arminius - shouldn’t

23
Q

Religious believers & predestination - nature of God (should/shouldn’t believe)

A

Doctrine of predestination reinforces characteristics of God - should
Omnibenevolent nature of God ensures all people can reach salvation - shouldn’t
An all-loving God would not punish and treat all humanity as sinful - shouldn’t

24
Q

God predetermining humanity - scriptures (does/doesn’t)

A

Religious texts do support the idea that God does predetermine humanity across all three monotheistic religions - does
God knows our lifespan but does not necessarily predetermine it - doesn’t
It is free will and not God who determines the path of man - doesn’t

25
Q

God predetermining humanity - scholars (does/doesn’t)

A

Theological arguments (Augustine and Calvin) suggest that God does in fact predetermine humanity - does
We all have the power of making choices which are free from predestination - doesn’t
The elect can still sin however they will be predestined to seek forgiveness - doesn’t
Wesley taught that a person is free to also reject salvation - doesn’t

26
Q

Hard determinism

A

The world around us is a closed system
Everything has a cause and there is no such thing as free will
Moral agents only have preconditioned, programmed choices

27
Q

John Locke - Hard Determinism

A

Believed in universal causation
Free will is just an illusion
Humans are able to freely choose how to act at an individual level

28
Q

John Locke - locked room analogy

A

Man wakes up in a room with a friend he hasn’t seen in a while
The room is locked from the outside but he does not know this
He chooses to stay in the room, believing he has chosen to stay there of his own free will
It is his ignorance of the locked door which means he has no choice

29
Q

Scientific determinism

A

Regularities in nature allow us to predict what will happen in the next chain
Our thoughts and decisions are part of a chain of universal causation
Moral agents are determined physically by their genes - DNA
Humanity is not free but is instead determined by their genetic formula - Human Genome Project

30
Q

Psychological determinism

A

Pavlov - dog & bell (food = salivation, bell = nothing, food & bell = salivation, bell = salivation)
Watson - Little Albert (mouse = nothing, loud noise = scared, loud noise & mouse = scared, mouse = scared)
Skinner - operant conditioning - rat in a cage with water button (light goes on and it presses the lever)

31
Q

Classical soft determinism - Hobbes

A

We are free to an extent in some circumstances but this is curtailed by other factors such as our genetic background
Moral choice and responsibility is compatible with determinism
Internal cause - choice moral agents make for themselves
External cause - someone forces a moral agent to do something against their predetermined will
Involves elements of determinism and elements of free will

32
Q

A.J. Ayer - caused vs forced acts

A

When a situation is soft determined, we suggest that the behaviour has been caused
When it is an external cause we use the word forced
Illustrating the linguistic difference between soft and hard determinism
We are able to make free choices when we are not prevented from acting in accordance with our nature

33
Q

Libertarianism

A

The view that moral agents have full control and power over their actions

34
Q

Philosophical libertarianism - Sartre

A

Humanity was condemned to freedom
Moral agents have no choice but to embrace freedom and take responsibility for their actions

35
Q

Sartre - consciousness

A

Humans have a consciousness of their own existence
They can think about possible futures that might come from different moral choices
Humans are able to stand back from their own lives and interpret them in different ways

36
Q

Sartre - bad faith

A

Freedom can bring pain and anguish and so moral agents try to avoid accepting that they are really free
They try to convince themselves that their actions and attitudes are determined by their character
Waiter example - cafe waiter does his job too keenly so that he can reject the possibility that he is free to act differently

37
Q

Scientific libertarianism - Sirigu

A

Free will could be sited in a part of the brain
Carried out a range of experiments, the parietal cortex ‘wills’ which particular movement to make from the range of options

38
Q

Psychological libertarianism - Rogers

A

Encourages the moral agent to consider their own behaviour rather than the psychologist analysing their behaviour
Humans can escape these forms of conditioning and achieve free will through actualisation
Children think deeply about different aspects of their life and for this to flourish they need an open environment
When peers disapprove of these thoughts the child believes that they are wrong

39
Q

Criticisms of Sartre

A

His argument cannot be falsified - any evidence we present against free will is seen as evidence that we deny free will

40
Q

Criticisms of genetic determinism

A

Just because some elements of our personality can be influenced by our DNA doesn’t mean they all are
Arguments from Sirigu’s experiments aren’t complete proof just suggestions

41
Q

Criticisms of Rogers

A

Not a good reflection of the real world
Human action can be determined through conditioning but this is not inevitable

42
Q

Implications for normative ethics

A

If all normative ethics aim to act as a guide to encourage moral agents to make moral choices then hard determinism makes these theories redundant

43
Q

Implications for moral responsibility

A

Normative ethics may be useful as moral agents require guidelines however Sartre would argue that humans could use normative ethics as an excuse to act in ‘bad faith’

Ethics (5 decks)

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