Free Will & Determinism

Question 1

Doctrine of original sin - Augustine

Answer 1

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

Question 2

Massa peccati

Answer 2

Mass sin - all humanity is born of this

Question 3

Liberium arbitrium

Answer 3

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

Question 4

Predestination - Augustine

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Calvin’s doctrine of election

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Indicators of the elect

Answer 6

‘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

Question 7

Indicators of the reprobates

Answer 7

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

Question 8

The Synod of Dort

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Pelagius

Answer 9

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’

Question 10

Role of ‘grace’ - Pelagius

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Arminius

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Rejection of predestination - Arminius

Answer 12

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’

Question 13

The Five Articles of Remonstrance

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Implications of Predestination - omnipotence

Answer 14

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

Question 15

Implications of Predestination - omnibenevolence

Answer 15

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

Question 16

Arminius on omnipotence and benevolence

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Implications of Predestination - prayer

Answer 17

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

Question 18

Calvin’s view on prayer

Answer 18

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

Question 19

Implications of Predestination - miracles

Answer 19

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

Question 20

Calvin’s view on miracles

Answer 20

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

Question 21

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

Answer 21

‘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

Question 22

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

Answer 22

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

Question 23

predestination - nature of God

Answer 23

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

Question 24

predestination - scriptures

Answer 24

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

Question 25

predestination - scholars

Answer 25

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

Question 26

Hard determinism

Answer 26

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

Question 27

John Locke - Hard Determinism

Answer 27

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

Question 28

John Locke - locked room analogy

Answer 28

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

Question 29

Scientific determinism

Answer 29

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

Question 30

Psychological determinism

Answer 30

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)

Question 31

Classical soft determinism - Hobbes

Answer 31

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

Question 32

A.J. Ayer - caused vs forced acts

Answer 32

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

Question 33

Libertarianism

Answer 33

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

Question 34

Philosophical libertarianism - Sartre

Answer 34

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

Question 35

Sartre - consciousness

Answer 35

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

Question 36

Sartre - bad faith

Answer 36

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

Question 37

Scientific libertarianism - Sirigu

Answer 37

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

Question 38

Psychological libertarianism - Rogers

Answer 38

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

Question 39

Criticisms of Sartre

Answer 39

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

Question 40

Criticisms of genetic determinism

Answer 40

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

Question 41

Criticisms of Rogers

Answer 41

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

Question 42

Implications for normative ethics

Answer 42

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

Question 43

Implications for moral responsibility

Answer 43

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’