Issues and Debates: Free Will + Determinism Flashcards
Determinism
Our behaviour is caused by internal or external forces outside of our control.
Free Will
Our behaviour is due to our own choices.
We are active agents, not passive.
Can act + make things happen, we have a choice.
We act of our own volition.
Humanism - Free Will
Personal growth
Free will necessary to become fully functional beings.
Client-Centred Therapy - power of the individual to direct their lives according to their self-chosen goals.
Hard Determinism
All behaviour is caused by internal or external forces that are entirely out of a person’s control
Soft Determinism
Behaviours are to some extent caused by internal/external forces but not by coercion, rather by our own conscious choices.
e.g. SLT - choose who to observe, who our role models are + takes into account mediational processes
Cognitive approach - behaviour determined by processes in the mind but we can choose what we attend to.
3 Types of Hard Determinism
Biological: caused by internal biological factors - neurotransmitters, brain function.
Environmental: caused by external forces - upbringing, learning, socialisation.
Psychic: internal forces that include unconscious instincts + drives - childhood experiences, psychosexual stages not successfully completed.
OCD - Biological Determinism
Explained through genetics (COMT + SERT gene mutation)
Twin studies show higher concordance in MZ twins
68% concordance in MZ
31% concordance in DZ
Phobias - Environmental Determinism
Explained through classical conditioning
Little Albert: conditioned fear of white rats
Neutral stimulus becomes associated with fear response
Freud - Psychic Determinism
Psychosexual stages of determinism
Unresolved conflicts determine adult relationships
Problem of Moral Responsibility
If behaviour is determined, can we be held responsible for our actions.
Implications for criminal justice system
Free Will + Mental Health
Locus of control: belief in control over ones life
Link between fatalism + depression in teenagers
Internal locus of control associated with better mental health
Evaluations on Determinism
For:
Assumes that behaviour has a cause - determined by something else.
Free will is harder to measure + control.
Scientists love + believe in determinism - leads to general laws on human behaviour.
Against:
People, including criminals, cannot be held responsible for their actions.
If someone commits a crime, can we punish them if behaviour was the result of forces out of their control?
Implications for methods of punishment - prison.
Only extreme examples of determinism taken into account (insanity).
Evaluation on Free Will
For:
Positive perception of free will linked to better MH.
Locus of control vital for MH.
The belief that we have free will can have a positive impact on our behaviour + wellbeing.
Against:
Soon et al - brain activity indicated an action predated our conscious knowledge of having made the choice.
Causal explanations
Based on the scientific notion that behaviour is caused/determined by internal/external factors - cause + effect relationship.
One of the basic principles of science - every event has a cause and every cause has an effect.
