Free will and determinism
- Created by: Ellen Hannah
- Created on: 16-06-14 14:14
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- Free will + determinsim
- Appraoches
- Hard determinism
- Strengths + weaknesses
- removes concept of punishment for punishments sake
- A murderer cannot be held morally responsible for his actions
- Strict + rigid belief
- All choices are determined. Free will = illusion
- We are exempt from moral responsibility if we have no other choice
- Strengths + weaknesses
- Libertarianism
- Strengths + weaknesses
- Gives moral responsibility to each individual + justifies punishment
- Seem to be factors that limit our freedom
- When making decisions, we = affected by our emotions, limiting our freedom
- Opposite of hard determinsim.
- Rejected hard determinism because it suggests we have no moral responsibility/freedom to act
- Sometimes torn between teo actions, both of which will work, but we choose for ourselves
- Strengths + weaknesses
- Soft determinsim
- Strengths + weaknesses
- Combines both approaches + accepts some things = determined but that we = still morally responsible for our own free actions
- Doesn't give specific guidelines as to what = determined + what isn't
- Combines freedom + accountability
- Attempts to combine hard determinsim + liberatarianism
- Values, desires + experience determine our actions, but = so complex outcome = random. They = determined but also free
- Strengths + weaknesses
- Hard determinism
- Predestination
- Protestant Christians
- believe God has already determined all things including who will be saved at end of time
- Augustine
- In order for us to be good we need Gods gifts of grace + mercy. God chooses who receives these for salvation
- Calvin
- Taught that man = inherently evil + incapable of choosing God. If god didn't choose who would be saved, no one would be
- No matter who we are or how we live our lives, we cannot change what God has already decided. This = called predestination
- If God determined at creation who will be condemned no one has free will + thus punishment + reward = unjust. People behave the way they do because God determined it
- Protestant Christians
- Religious understanding of free will
- Genesis
- Adam + Eve disobey God + eat from Tree of Knowledge as a consequence of their free will. Free will seems necessary if we are to choose God/turn away from him
- Predestination contradics this by saying there = no human free-will
- Traditional belief in Gods omniscience suggests that He knows everything of past, presnt + future
- If this = case, then free will seems to be irrelevant as we = unable to do anything other than what has forseen
- A solution to this may be that God foresees our choices but doesn't cause them
- If this = case, then free will seems to be irrelevant as we = unable to do anything other than what has forseen
- Genesis
- Secular approaches
- Geneics
- Genes seem to control much of what we say + do. This makes moral responsibility impossible
- Pinker - suggests moral reasoning = result of natural selection
- Environment
- Geography + climate play a part in influencing individuals + society's bahviour - hot climates = laziness + European = hard-working
- Psychology
- Watson - human behaviour can be changed + reinforced through both heredity + environmental factors
- Skinner - believed reward + punishment were powerful tools. Both remove moral responsibility.
- Social conidiotning
- Actions have social cause + can be determined by society, upbringing + education, etc. We cannot avoid the socially determined path.
- Sowell 'human self = infinitely plastic allowing humanity to be changed + ultimately perfected'
- 4 approaches: psychology, genetics, environmental + social conditioning offer other views
- Geneics
- Appraoches
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