Issues and debates- Free will and determinism Flashcards
Define free will
The idea is that humans play an active role and have a choice on how they behave
What is hard determinism?
The view that forces outside of our control (biology or experience shape our behaviour
What is soft determinism?
Behaviour is constrained by the environment or biological make-up but only to a certain extent
What is biological determinism?
Behaviour is determined by factors that are inside of us
What is environmental determinism?
Determined by factors that are outside of ourselves but we still can’t control these factors
What is psychic determinism?
Free will is an illussion, behaviour is caused by unconscious conflicts we can’t control
Why does people believing they are self dtermining an advantage of free will?
-Everyday experiences give the impression that we are free
-Provides face validity to the concept of FW
-FW has psychological benefits, those who believe they have an internal locus of control believe they control their life tend to be more healthy
-However, belief in something doesn’t make it true
-Skinner argued that FW is an illusion in that we are just not aware of the causes of our actions
Scientific research supports determinism because the principle of science is to establish causes to predict and control events, why does this support determinism?
-For example, determining the causes of mental illness does not support FW as nobody would choose to suffer from schizophrenia
-Finding the causes of mental illness can lead to successful treatment options
-Determinism is an unfalsifiable concept, if research found that behaviour was determined it could simply be argued it is yet to be identified
What is the psychological research evidence against FW and why is it a disadvantage?
-Libet showed that the brain can indicate which hand a person chooses to move before the person is consciously aware of it
-This indicates people actually do not make free choices but their decision was made by their brain before they choose to move the hand
-The brain indicated which hand up to 10 seconds before the choice
What is a disadvantge od dterminsim?
-The hard determinism stance is out of keeping with societys view on our moral responsibility our our behaviour
-The legal system relies on people being held accountable for their actions and assumes they have moral responsibility therefore would not support the hard determism stance
-Crimisnals could argue that their behaviour was pre dtermined and they should not be punished
-Although soft determisim argues that influences may increase the chance of offending,people can make choices to not act in a criminal way
