Hard Determinism AO1 Flashcards
Explain the philosophical concept of determinism.
The philosophical concept of determinism was introduced by John Locke. Locke believed that events that occur are determined by an unbreakable chain of past causes that cannot be escaped from, and therefore the future is as fixed as the past. From this theory Locke concluded that ‘free will is just an illusion’. This is because people who believe they have free will think they do because they are able to pause and reflect before making a choice. However, Locke believe such thoughts were peoples ignorance of past causes; as most people do not have the intelligence to see that actually there are no choices to be made.
What is the example Locke gives?
Locke gave the example of a man who wakes up in a room, that unknown to him, is locked on the outside. He chooses to stay in the room believing that he has chosen freely to stay there. In reality he has no option but to stay there, it is only his ignorance on the status of the door, that has given him the illusion of free will.
Explain the scientific concept of determinism.
The scientific concept of hard determinism are often known as biological determinism. Charles Darwin believed that every living organism is determined by the process of evolution. This belief was furthered by the discovery of genetics. Scientists argue that genetics determine how we act/respond in all situations, including moral ones. An example of this is a study that suggested the existence of an ‘obese gene’, therefore due to DNA it is inevitable that those people will become obese.
Explain the psychology concept of hard determinism.
The psychological concept of hard determinism is called behaviourism. Behaviourism is a theory that has been encouraged by the work of the early psychologist Ivan Pavlov whose experimentation is referred to as classical conditioning. Pavlov found that the normal reaction of a dog to food, producing saliva, could be conditioned to be triggered by the sound of a bell. Pavlov rang a bell every time the food was ready for the dogs. After a while Pavlov rang the bell but did not produce the food and the dogs still produced saliva. Pavlov argued that the dogs had been conditioned. From this Pavlov suggested human reactions are the same. Moral actions people do are just conditioned reactions to our environment.
