Freewill and Determinism

Question 1

What is a basic libertarian definition

Answer 1

People are free all the time

Question 2

What is a basic hard determinist definition

Answer 2

Not free to choose at all

Question 3

What is a basic soft determinist definition

Answer 3

(Compatibilist) In the middle, not always free but sometimes responsible.

Question 4

What is a definition of autonomy

Answer 4

Self -rule or self-government. The term is made up of ‘autos’ meaning ‘self’ and ‘nomos’ meaning ‘rule’. Many philosophers such as Kant, hold that you can only be responsible for your actions that you undertake of your own will.

Question 5

What is the complex definition of determinism

Answer 5

The belief that choices are influenced by factors other than the will of the individual. (events/actions are predetermined by other events therefore freedom of choice is an illusion)

Question 6

What is the complex definition of hard determinism

Answer 6

The belief that people do not have free will to act in moral situations and that all moral actions have uncontrollable prior causes. Humans therefore cannot be morally blameworthy for their actions because their actions are predetermined.

Question 7

What is the complex definition of libertarianism

Answer 7

The belief that humans are free to make moral choices and are therefore morally responsible.

Question 8

What is liberty

Answer 8

freedom

Question 9

What is moral responsibility

Answer 9

Our blameworthiness or praiseworthiness for actions

Question 10

What is predestination

Answer 10

The belief that God has decided who will and will not enter heaven

Question 11

What do soft determinism compatibilists believe

Answer 11

The belief that some actions are determined but we still have moral responsibility

Question 12

What is the effect of humans not having free will

Answer 12

Morality becomes meaningless and we cannot be held morally responsible for our actions

Question 13

What is a moral situation

Answer 13

It is one in which the individual can choose a particular course of action.

Question 14

What is the theory of universal causation

Answer 14

Everything in the universe has a cause. Unpredictable and uncontrollable.

Question 15

What are philosophers in the topic

Answer 15

Clarence Darrow-Law
Ted Honderich
David Hume
John Locke
Kant
Jean-Paul Jartre

Question 16

What are the limitations to freedom

Answer 16

• Laws of nature
• Physical attributes
• Laws of state and society

Question 17

What type of freedom do some say is limited where another type is not

Answer 17

Some say there are limits to our actual not our moral freedom

Question 18

What two types of freedom are there a distinction between

Answer 18

There is a distinction between freedom in general terms and freedom of will.

Question 19

What is Sir Isaac Newton’s book

Answer 19

Principia Mathematica

Question 20

What view of the earth is Isaac Newton’s

Answer 20

Mechanistic view

Question 21

What is a scientific point of view on the topic

Answer 21

-Observable events are subject to the laws of nature
-Knowledge is based on the idea that events can be predicted by previous events.
(knowledge of the starting conditions)+ (knowledge of the relevant laws) = (successful outcome)

Question 22

What type of laws are we governed by the same as the natural world

Answer 22

physical laws

Question 23

What is the argument of universal causation

Answer 23

Everything is predictable

Question 24

What is the idea of psychological determinism

Answer 24

The idea that all our behaviour is determined by nature and nurture. All in nurture regardless of talents, he believed he could raise any baby to be a beggar or a doctor

Question 25

Who came up with the idea of psychological determinism

Answer 25

John B Watson

Question 26

What did Ivan Pavlov do

Answer 26

Social conditioning. Society can train you to be a certain way.

Question 27

What did BF Skkiner do

Answer 27

He said that behaviour can be controlled through reward and punishment- operant conditioning

Question 28

What did Milgram do

Answer 28

Made people give a 450V shock by an authoritative figure. 65% did

Question 29

What is the selfish gene and who mentions it

Answer 29

Dawkins- Act socially for survival, emotions fulfil evolutionary purposes

Question 30

What is the theory of universal causation

Answer 30

Everything in the universe has a cause- unpredictable and uncontrollable.

Question 31

What is the question posed by universal causation and what does it mean

Answer 31

Do humans possess free will?
If not morality becomes meaningless. We can’t be held responsible for our actions. A moral situation is one in which the individual can choose a particular course of action. Is moral decision making an illusion.

Question 32

Example of a hard determinists view

Answer 32

Person needs ‘fixing’ or to be imprisoned like a machine.

Question 33

What is the case of Leopold and Loeb

Answer 33

Leopold and Loeb were defended in 1924 by lawyer Clarence Darrow. Darrow used the determinist argument in several court cases.The two planned the perfect crime killing young neighbour bobby franks, but Darrow argued they were not fully responsible because they were genetically and environmentally determined.

Question 34

What does hard determinism imply about mother teresa and adolf hitler

Answer 34

Mother Teresa is no more responsible for her good deeds than hitler was for this; he cannot be blamed and she cannot be praised.

Question 35

What is chaos theory

Answer 35

A quantum effect at a fundemantal level can be the cause of a large-scale event

Question 36

What is the Butterfly effect

Answer 36

A butterfly fluttering its wings in beijing could cause a later hurricane in new york

Question 37

What is the gaia theory

Answer 37

The world changes itself to survive, nature is in control, not humans

Question 38

What is the heisenburg uncertainty principle

Answer 38

It is not possible to measure both the position and speed of a particle at the same time, but just because we cannot measure them doesn’t mean they cannot be known