Libertarianism AO1 Flashcards
Explain the philosophical concept of libertarianism.
The philosophical concept of libertarianism was introduced by Satre. Satre believed that there is no god and because there is no god there is no higher power controlling moral agents. Therefore, man is condemned to freedom. He argued that people can understand they have free will because humanity is pour-soi which means we have possession of a self consciousness. This self consciousness allows us to think about and consider different possible futures that might come about from different actions.
Why humanities freedom obvious to Satre and what is bad faith?
According to Satre, humanities freedom is obvious because of the way moral agents try to deny it. He believed that freedom can bring pain and therefore we try to avoid the reality of our own freedom. Therefore, we create a self deception called ‘bad faith’. Bad faith is the attempt by moral agents to escape the pain of life by pretending they are not free. They convince themselves their attitudes and actions are determined by genetics or situations. Satre argues, through the analogy of the waiter, that these attempts to escape the reality of human freedom are in fact an absolute sign of moral agents have free will.
Explain the scientific concept of libertarianism
The scientific concept of libertarianism comes from the recent developments in neuroscience that suggest moral agents have free will. Sirigu, at the cognitive neuroscience centre in France, potentially discovered that free will is cited in the parietal cortex. As she found that the parietal cortex communicates with the pre-motor cortex to act out the free willed choices.
Explain the psychological concept of libertarianism
It is known as humanism. A supporter of this theory is Carl Rogers. Rogers believes that our lives can become determined but we all have the ability to achieve free will; through the process of self actualisation. He believed that people are born experiencing beings, who have the potential to respond freely to their current situations. However, when the children’s parents disapprove of their thoughts or ideas they think their thoughts are wrong. If they want acceptance, they have to let go of their real free willed thoughts and instead embrace those of their parents and society. Therefore the child becomes determined by their environment. According to Rogers the path to self actualisation involves getting in touch with our real thoughts and feeling and acting on them. When we act on them we are breaking the chains of determinism and expressing our free will.
