the implications of hard and soft determinism

Created by: Esther 789
Created on: 15-03-22 14:17

is there any value in blaming moral agents for their actions?

if the ideas of hard determinism are true, and all human actions are determined, there would be no value in blaming moral agents since they had no choice

if a person was to steal for instance, their sense of morality would be questioned due to the human

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example

the issue of punishment:
in 2007, Abdul Malik Bayat was convicted of murder. his defense was that he possessed what was known as the MAOA gene (the warrior gene). as a result, the judge reduced his sentence by one year.

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Are ethical theories useful?

if the ideas of hard determinism are true, then ethical theories would become useless as moral agents would not be able to follow any guidance as their lives are predestined.

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who is soft determinism associated with?

Thomas Hobbes and AJ Ayer

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what did they both accept?

human actions are determined by internal causes- the will of a person

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what does that mean for soft determinism?

if these ideas are the same implications that apply to hard determinism would also apply to soft determinism.

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example

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if the ideas of hard determinism are true, then ethical theories would become useless as moral agents would not be able to follow any guidance as their lives are predestined.

Back

Card 4

Front

Thomas Hobbes and AJ Ayer

Back

Card 5

Front

human actions are determined by internal causes- the will of a person

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the implications of hard and soft determinism