Free Will & Determinism

Question 1

Which two philosophers proposed the ideas of predestination?

Answer 1

Augustine of Hippo and John Calvin.

Question 2

What is the main idea of predestination?

Answer 2

Our actions are irrelevant because God has already decided who is saved. People do good because God has made them that way. We have no responsibility.

Question 3

What did Augustine say? (E.g. grace)

Answer 3

God decides who to give the grace to do good and assure salvation.

Question 4

What did Calvin say?

Answer 4

All men are sinners who are incapable of good and only reject God. So predestination is necessary for some to be saved.

Question 5

Define hard determinism.

Answer 5

All actions have prior causes. We have no freedom and no moral responsibility. A person is like a machine who, if faulty, needs fixing. (E.g. if someone steals they need to be fixed)

Question 6

Who suggested that all our actions are compelled externally and internally, and that any ‘good’ choices are “all a matter of luck”?

Answer 6

John Hospers

Question 7

What did Clarence Darrow contribute to hard determinism?

Answer 7

He defended Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb in a murder case. He said that they were a product of their upbringing, ancestry and wealthy environment.

Question 8

What did Watson argue about behaviourism?

Answer 8

All behaviour can be controlled and predicted, based on prior causes.

Question 9

Suggest two other psychologists and their views on behaviourism.

Answer 9

Pavlov - people can be conditioned by their environment (e.g Pavlov’s dogs).
Skinner - behaviour can be controlled through reward and punishment. There is no freedom or blame.

Question 10

What is John Locke’s analogy for behaviourism? What does it mean?

Answer 10

A man wakes in a locked room. He chooses to stay, even though he actually has no choice because he is unable to leave.
We only think we make free choices.

Question 11

Define libertarianism.

Answer 11

Cause and effect cannot be applied to human behaviour. We have free will and responsibility. We see ourselves as free agents with a mind.

Question 12

Who suggested the analogy of life being like choosing which branch to walk on a road? (Determinism is like a branch with no choice and no direction)

Answer 12

Peter van Inwagen

Question 13

Libertarianism suggests that we are free because we believe we have ______ and feel _____ when considering other decisions we could have made.

Answer 13

1. choices

2. regret

Question 14

Explain Werner Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle. (Hint: subatomic particles)

Answer 14

We cannot know both the location and the momentum of subatomic particles at the same time. It is better to rely on probabilities than to create general laws.

Question 15

Libertarianism argues that not everything has a ______ and that some things are ____________.

Answer 15

1. cause

2. unpredictable

Question 16

Which thinker said that freedom is the goal and measure of life, and that man makes himself what he chooses?

Answer 16

Jean-Paul Satre

Question 17

Define soft determinism (compatibilism).

Answer 17

Some actions are determined, but we are morally responsible. We must consider that our own values, emotions and desires have an effect on our actions. We are free when we are not forced or compelled by an external pressure.

Question 18

What did Kant say in terms of compatibilism? (E.g. object of knowledge, act of will, practical reason)

Answer 18

Determinism can be applied to objects of knowledge but not to acts of the will. When we act we think of ourselves as free. Freedom is a postulate of practical reason.