Free Will and Determinism

Free Will and Determinism

1. PREDESTINATION: Doctrine that some people are born selected for salvation and others for damnation- how they affect this.

   • Developed by John Calvin (from story of Noah's Ark)- protestant reformer in the mid-16th century settled in Geneva where he helped establish Protestant reformation (Geneva was to become the new Jeruselum..
     • "God calls the few and damns the many". God has pre-selected before birth- a few go to heaven to be saved ("the elect") whilst the majority are destined for hell.

2. 1. HARD DETERMINISM: human actions and behaviour are wholly determined by external factors= humans do not have genuine free will or accountability.

   • EXTERNAL FACTOR: psychology- how our mind works + how it influences our behaviour, attitudes and thinking. B.F. Skinner= behaviour can be modified using reward and punishment but this is pre-determined= we cannot be held morally responsible for our actions. Freud= behaviour is down to childhood experiences- repressed/subconscious thoughts.
   • EXTERNAL FACTOR: environment- geography + climate influences individuals more than social conditions do, e.g. tropical climates= laziness + promiscuity, where as less regular weather e.g. Europe= more determined attitude towards work..
     • E.g. Newton: the principle of gravity is pre-determined.
   • EXTERNAL FACTOR: social conditioning- everything around us influences us, e.g. education, media, upbringing.
     • E.g. Pavlov's dogs: dogs conditioned to associate sound of ringing bell with food= salivating when they heard the bell because they knew food was on the way= DETERMINED: events outside our control can cause us to act in a certain way.
     • E.g. Watson: believed we could train infants to be anything we want e.g. thieves. BEHAVIOURIST= believed behaviours resulted from conditioning e.g. Pavlov's dogs, little Albert.
   • EXTERNAL FACTOR: genetics- genes determine everything we do- which we cannot change!= pre-determined.
     • E.g. Leopold & Loeb: boys murdered young boy (Bobby Franks), DARROW argued that they "killed him because they were made that way", rather than arguing with evidence- stated they were mentally ill and their genetics and upbringing predetermined this= LIFE IMPRISONMENT INSTEAD OF DEATH PENALTY.
       • " What had the boy got to do with it? ... he did not make himself. "
   • BENEFIT: offers a less emotive way of dealing with criminals.
   • NEGATIVE: does not fit with our natural feelings of dilemmas =, torn choices and actively shaping our futures.
   • HONDERICH: Similar views to Darrow, but not concerned with the way in which individuals are affected by particular circumstances. Reason is out of human control, events are determined + anything a human does is a result of what has already happened= humans are not responsible for their actions.
   • PINKER: Evolutionarist- natural selection determines how we act morally.

3. 2. LIBERTARIANISM + FREE WILL: our choices are free from the determination or constraints of human nature and from any predetermination by God= we are morally responsible for our actions. Appeals to our intuition (we prefer to see ourselves as free individuals).

   • Libertarians argue: because we blame ourselves + feel guilt for our actions= free to choose freely, whereas if we are determined we cannot feel guilty.
   • Peter Van Inwagen: "Libertarianism is like travelling down a road and choosing which turnings to take. Whereas with determinism, we follow a straight path."
   • Sortre: believed in the essential freedom of individuals= as free beings, individuals are responsible for all elements of themselves, their consciousness+ their actions.
     • "With total freedom comes total responsibility"
   • BENEFIT: empowers those who believe change is possible + stops us being putty in people's or institution's hands.
   • NEGATIVE: explanation needed for how an action can be neither determined by prior causes nor random- to be free, actions must have alternative possibilities and be formed by the agent.

4. 3. SOFT DETERMINISM + COMPATIBILISM (MIDDLE GROUND): free will and determinism are compatible- some things are determined but at the same time we are morally responsible for our actions.= FREE AGENTS DESPITE OUR ACTIONS BEING CAUSED.

   • CASE STUDY: Yorkshire Ripper- Peter Sutcliffe, convicted of killing 13 women + countless sexual assults- claimed God was telling him to do it= is he morally accountable?
   • THEORISTS: Hobbes + Locke- FW requires that action (that is free) must have a deterministic cause, and that moreover that cause must be the will.
   • BENEFIT: solves age old language problem due to mistaken definition of freedom as needing alternative possibilities.
   • NEGATIVE: doesn't explain how, if i have NO CHOICE about having an addictive personality, that if i have an addictive personality and this predetermines that if exposed to gambling and alcohol= i become a compulsive gambler and alcoholic, I am still said to have freely chosen this course.