Freewill VS Determinism

Question 1

Define Free Will

Answer 1

The notion that humans can make choices which are not determined by internal or external forces. It implies that individuals are responsible for their own actions, which makes it impossible to predict behaviour.

Question 2

Define determinism

Answer 2

Determinism proposes that free will has no place in explaining behaviour because we have no choice in our actions. Our behaviours are shaped by our biology, learning and thoughts. It is a scientific view.

Question 3

Define biological determinism + examples

Answer 3

The belief that behaviour is caused by biological influences that we cannot control.
hunger, height, intelligence

Question 4

Define environmental determinism + examples

Answer 4

Behaviour is controlled by external factors and influences in our environment.
Obedience, conformity, happiness.

Question 5

Define psychic determinism

Answer 5

All behaviour is controlled by unconscious fears and desires. It implies that all behaviour is linked to previous childhood events or experiences,
Freudian theories - oedipus complex

Question 6

Define hard determinism

Answer 6

Forces outside our control (biology / experience) completely shape out behaviour.
Biological and behaviourist approach.
Both approaches assume we have no free will.

Question 7

Define soft determinism

Answer 7

Behaviour is controlled by internal and external forces, but only to a certain extent. Individuals have some degree of free will.
eg - psychodynamic approach.

Question 8

Evaluate free will VS determinism -

Answer 8

J Determinism is consistent with science:
Ø Science places importance upon establishing a cause and effect.
Ø If human behaviour is determined, then we can establish a cause and effect. By establishing a cause and effect, we can make predictions about human behaviour, and it places us on an even footing with the hard sciences.
Example: Asch’s research allows us to predict that conformity will increase with task difficulty (the research assumes that conformity is determined by environmental factors). K Some psychologists argue that free will is an illusion. This is a weakness for the ‘free will’ side of the debate, but a ‘win’ for the ‘determinism’ side of the debate.
Ø Libet et al. (1983) found that the motor regions of the brain become active before a person registers conscious awareness of a decision (i.e. the decision to voluntarily move our fingers is a pre-determined action of the brain, not a conscious choice).
This suggests that many behaviours are biologically determined and although we may believe we have free will, it might be an illusion.L The assumption that behaviour is fully determined by external or internal forces has legal implications.
Ø For example, in 1981 Stephen Mobley argued that he could not be held responsible for killing a pizza shop manager because his family had a predisposition towards violence.
Ø Therefore, a truly determinist position may be undesirable as it provides an excuse for criminal acts and people might not be held responsible for their own actions.