Free will & Determinism Flashcards
what are the two religious concepts of predestination ?
John Calvin’s doctrine of election
St Augustine’s doctrine of original sin
why may religious people argue freedom over our choice is important ?
to show were making choices out of our own volition and then can be judged and are either praiseworthy or punishable
who was and what did Pelagius believe about free will ?
British monk who taught that free will was the highest human attribute, said humans choose to do good and bad actions
who was and what did Pelagius believe about free will ?
British monk who taught that free will was the highest human attribute, said huans choose to do good and bad actions
background to the original sin
Adam and Eve had free will and could choose to sin or abstain from sin
what is the original sin ?
A and e were given free will and disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit, when they ate the fruit corruption entered them
result of the original sin ?
a defect to all human character ‘concupiscence’
meaning (‘longing’ and moral agents looking for earthly desires such as materialism e.g food and sex rather than having the desire to know and love God)
what are the two reasons concupiscence is passed on from Adam and Eve to every person ?
1- humans are seminaly present in the loins of Adam
2- humanity is born from sexual intercourse which is a result of concupiscence and thus humanity inherits concupiscence
what is the result of concupiscence ?
according to Augustine all humanity for as a ‘massa peccati’ (lump of sin)
while we may have ‘free will’ or ‘libertum arbitrium’ in the sense we can choose our course of conduct, we still lack true freedom to avoid sin, we are predestined to sin
what is the alternative view on predestination held by the Protestant churches ?
originates from Pauls letter to the Romans and says God has already chosen who will be saved and who wont
background basis of Calvinism ?
central idea is the sovereignty of God (power over everything)
Calvinism is based on 5 points (TULIP) which all stem from the basic idea of God, humans must also depend on God to be saved
corrupted nature of humans in Calvinism ?
- said like Augustine humans are totally depraved after the fall and cant choose to obey or disobey God as they are too wrapped up in sin
explain Augustine’s doctrine of original sin ?
- humanity is born with free will (liberum arbitrium) but concupiscence acts as an overriding secondary human nature which over rides humans free will losing their libertas so humans cant choose to not sin due to dominant concupiscence pre-determining all moral agents to sin
who was John Calvin ?
French theologian, principle figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism and included doctrines of predestination, the greatest influencer on him was Augustine, he developed his ideas into the Doctrine of election
background basis of Calvinism ?
central idea is the sovereignty of God (power over everything)
Calvinism is based on 5 points (TULIP) which all stem from the basic idea of God, huamns must also depend on God to be saved
what is the doctrine of election ? 5 main points for Clavins DOE
TULIP
what is T for in doctrine of election
total depravity
- means sin is in every part of ones being, human race is without hope in terms of salvation
what is U for in Tulip ?
unconditional election
- belief that God made the choice for some to go to eternal life and some for eternal damnation, this number is fixed so cannot be changed
- God divides humans into the elect and the reprobates
general problems with predestination ?
- conflicts with the idea of free will and suggests no person should take responsibility for their actions with contradicts the justice system our laws are based on
- makes no sense to talk of judgement of God in the Bible if everything is predestined
- for many freedom is necessary in Christian faith and backed up in many areas of the Bible e.g Psalms David wrote ‘i have chosen to be obedient’
- surely we have to be free to make moral choice and Christianity is a religion about living a moral life
- why would God allow this to happen ? if he is benevolent
L in tulip ?
limited atonement, Jesus died only for the elect, God wouldn’t waste sacrifice on whom he’d determined not to save
I in TULIP ?
irresistible grace
- by Gods grace alone man is saved
- Gods grace overwhelms the elected so much that if they wanted to resist they couldn’t, the Holy spirit extents inward and external (gospel message open to all) calls
general problems with predestination ?
- conflicts with the idea of free will and suggests no person should take responsibility for their actions with contradicts the justice system our laws are based on
- makes no sense to talk of judgement of God in the Bible if everything is predestined
- for many freedom is necessary in Christian faith and backed up in many areas of the Bible e.g Psalms David wrote ‘i have chosen to be obedient’
- surely we have to be free to make moral choice
strengths of predestination
- Augustines argument has heavily influenced Catholics belief
- Some theologians argue that God has the power to give humanity free will, god gives humanity free will so that humanity can have true faith in him
- Calvin said there evidence in the Bible that implies humanity is predestined such as Romans 8:29
what is determinism ?
the belief that suggests all event are predestined
hard determinism ?
belief all event are pre-determined and there is no such thing as free choice
soft determinism ?
belief that acts can be both caused and free
what is philosophical determinism ?
investigation of nature, causes or principles of determinism based on logical reasoning rather than empirical methods
who was John Locke ?
‘father of liberalism’ and English philosopher
what is a compatabalist ?
a person who thinks that concepts of determinism and free will are not contradictory but compatible with each other
what is libertrianism ?
philosophy which holds that human beings are free and any concept of determinism is false
who is Thomas Hobbes ?
English philosopher associated with soft determinism
the 3 main ethical views on freedom ?
hard determinism
soft determinism- some human actions are determined but we still have moral responsibility
libertarianism
strengths of hard determinism ?
Dennet- genetic fixity- scientific back up
recognises evident causes of our behaviour
reinforces christian idea of predestination as implemented by Augustine
shouldn’t be upset by what you have done
what did Voltaire say about determinism ?
’ everything i planned, connected, limited’
what is the theory of universal causation in philosophical determinism ?
everything in the universe including our human actions and choices has a cause
whats the illusion of moral choice in philosophical determinism ?
is a result of our ignorance of what causes these choices, leading us to believe they have no cause
example of how free will is an illusion ? JL
sleeping man moved into a locked room, wakes and chooses not to try and leave the room, Believes he could leave the room by walking through the door while in fact the door is locked and he could never do it, is this man free?
ignorance of his condition lead him to believe that he does have the ability to leave the room
what did Locke say in his essay ‘concerning human understanding’ philosophical determinism
-we think we are free in the sense we have the power of will but we only think we choose freely because we don’t know the lie behind our actions
what does Locke say about voluntary and involuntary actions ? in philosophical determinism ?? ask Ellen about this landy u rat
we are free to do those things which we both will to do and are physically capable of doing
what is scientific determinism ?
the idea that our behaviour is determined by their genetic make-up and trying to change these behavioural patterns is useless
what did Daniel Dennet say about scientific determinism ?
called is ‘genetic fixity’- genes of parents determine characteristics of children e.g multiple genes can add up to make someone susceptible to addiction
what is psychological determinism ?
- study of human behaviour that believes all human behaviour, thoughts and feelings are the outcomes of complex psychological laws describing causes and effect relationships
case study of psychological determinism ?
Darrow- defended 2 rich boys who killed another boy and successfully changed the boys sentence from the death penalty to life in prison as they were a result of their upbringing. The law considers those who have limited control over their responsibility have ‘diminished responsibility’
and Pavlovs dogs
and Milgram showing we could sculpt immoral behaviour with little more than persistent authority figure
strengths of hard determinism ?
Dennet- genetic fixity- scientific back up
recognises evident causes of our behaviour
reinforces christian idea of predestination as implemented by Augustine
limits human choice
not good for human mind to believe we have no control over our actions
shouldn’t be upset by what you have done
weaknesses of hard determinism ?
- problematic for society as justice system is based on taking responsibility
- too reductionist and reduces complex human phenomena down to their simplest level
- bad for humans to have a fatalistic view of the world and believe they have no control
strengths of soft determinism ?
- recognises individuals still have a part to play in causality
- supports the justice system
- people can be blamed and praised
- people happier as feel in control of actions
- not fatalistic
weaknesses of soft determinism ?
- criticised by hard deterministic for failing to realise the extent to which freedom is limited
- criticised by libertarians by failing to realise the extent of freedom we have
- quagmire of evasion- trying to escape the reality of determinism
- freedom is an illusion (John Locke)
How did Ayer describe soft determinism
- when a moral agent is only determined by internal causes and not external
- Hobbes also says this definition e.g moral agent was caused by internal genetic reaction to heat to take off their blazer
what did William James say about soft determinism ?
quagmire of evasion
Thomas Hobbes tried to defend soft determinism in the face of what criticism ?
that classical soft determinism was the same as hard determinism
what was Hobbes response to the criticism ?
considered two types of determinism, external and internal
distinction between external and internal causes
internal- sometimes we make choice out of voluntary actions e.g choosing to read a book (internal decision although it may be caused by a myriad of other causes)
external- external choices are caused by things external to us, e.g reading because i have an English exam tomorrow
soft determinism
all our actions are determined but we are free to act if we are not coerced
what did Moore say about free will ?
its possible to have free will even if we are determined
why are soft deterministic compatabalists
believe we can be truly determined and free as long as our actions our voluntary and not done out of coercion
why from a soft deterministic POV can a person be help morally accountable for their actions ?
- because their free will actions have been caused by the desires and wished=s and intentions that make up the internal causes of his actions
what did Johnathan Edwards say about free will
concept of free will was incompatible with the individual dependence on God, free will would mean morality and salvation become partly dependent on the moral agent
implications of predestination on Gods omnibenevolence ?
Augustine said God would be just in eternally condemning us to damnation but through Gods grace he saves the elect
- but he only elects some ? he pre-destined the holocaust ?
- prayer has no purpose for the reprobates
who was Pelagius ?
theologian of British origin who advocated free will and emphasised the importance of human effort in salvation
Pelagius understanding of the fall on mankind ?
- said man couldn’t be held accountable for A and E actions, denied inherited sinfulness on the grounds in=t would make God the author of evil
- did believe the fall introduced physical and spiritual death
- omnibenevolent God wouldnt allow inherited sinfulness
pelagius role of the original sin and free will?
said the fall was a good thing as disobeying allowed humans to grow and develop like a children learning through disobeying their parents, this allows all humanity to turn to sin or follow God and follow the commandments through the grace of God
what does pelagius say about God as a guide
saw Gods grace as enabling, not forcing good works, ability to sin is a good thing as emphasises goodness when a moral agent does good works
Pelagius view of forgiveness
said if moral agents choose not to follow God they can still seek forgiveness as through Gods grace we can reach salvation
- we can therefore all seek universal atonement through Christs death on the cross
explain the synod of Dort ?
concluded with the rejection of Arminian views and Clavinsim
Arminius’s understanding of the original sin ?
- eating the fruit was bad for mankind
- we inherit sin from Adam
- left moral agents natural impulse to sin
- didn’t fully predestine humanity to sin
- because god placed the holy spirit within all who is the third divine person of the trinity
- Holy spirit encourages all moral agents to do good works
- Holy spirit balances human impulse to sin but not override it because its not forceful
three types of libertariansim ?
- philosophical
- scientific
- humanism
who adovacted scientific libertarian-ism
Dr Angela Sirigu
- through advancements in cognitive neuroscience
- free will is sited in the parietal cortex which makes predictions about furutre potential bodily movements nut only send one specific instruction
who advocated philosophical libertarianism ?
Jean paul Satra
- our awareness sets us apart from animals as we are capable of standing back and observing the world
‘man is condemned to be free’
who advocated humanism ?
Carl Rogers
- emphasised humans inherent drive towards self actualisation which is the process of expressing and realising ones own capabilities
what is psychological libertarianism ?
different approaches in psychology to explain human behaviour and some are in favour of free will such as humanism compared to behaviourism which is completely deterministic
- humanism therefore supports libertarianism theory
- Rogers rejected behaviourism as he believed moral agents can achieve free will through the process of self actualisation
- Rogers said children have own ideas and thoughts about numerous aspects of life but for these ideas to flourish the child needs an environment with 3 elements
what three elements in a child environment did Rogers say a child needs for their ideas to flourish
- acceptance
- genuineness
- empathy
without these three element s a healthy free willed personality will not develop
children believe the only way of gaining acceptance is by forgetting their own free willed thoyghts and feelings to be accepted by parents e.g not be gay, we can gain this free will back by ‘self-actualisation’
what is philosophical determinism ?
- there is no God so man must rely on his own falable insight
implications of libertarianism and free will on moral responsibility
humans are to be held accountable for their actions which therefore gives the court the right for people to be punished for their actions
what is normative ethics
- normative ethics aren’t useful if we accept hard determinism as theres no point in a theory telling us how to live if we cant change that
- but they are useful if we accept libertarianism
- act utilitarianism needs libertarianism as moral agents need to select the course of action that will bring about the most happiness
what is normative ethics ?
attempt to provide a general theory that tells us hpw we ought to live, e.g natural law, utilitarianism and ethical egoism
implications of free will on religious belief ?
- how can God be omnipotent if God doesn’t determine who goes where in the afterlife
- Satre himself said freedom supports the idea that there is no God
- Arminius suggested a way in which Gods omnipotence remains alongside with free will
- free will means no omnipotent God
implications of free will on Gods omnibenevolence
- we can all me saved by God, Bertrand Russel said only a monster God would eternally damn people
- free will contradicts gods omnibenevolence as well as being all knowing he would see the holocaust happening and not prevent it and still gave humanity free will
existence of miricales in free will
- miricales cant occur according to free will theory as that would mean God has intervened and pre-destined an outcome so free will theory is incompatable with miricales
