Flashcards
FW/D - Soft Determinism
Cards in this deck (13)
- 1What is soft determinism?The belief that determinism is true in many aspects, but we are still morally responsible for our actions. States that some of our actions are determined but we are morally responsible for our actions.
- 2What do soft determinism argue?Soft determinists argue we there is confusion between determinism and fatalism (the belief that all our actions are predetermined and inevitable) about what we mean by freedom of choice.
- 3Explain...Freedom of choice does not correspond with fatalism which states nobody can change their course of events, but is compatible with determinism which states that not only the final cause but our own values, choices and desires are among the choices that determine our actions.
- 4What do soft determinists agree with?The idea all human actions are caused, since if they were not they would be unpredictable and random. They mean that when an individuals actions are free, they are not forced or compelled by any external pressure.
- 5What did Kant believe?Immanuel Kant believed that determinism applied to everything which was an object of knowledge, but not to the acts of the will.
- 6What two standpoints to people seemingly act from?The theoretical (pure reason)
The practical (practical reason) - 7What is the theoretical?Pure reason concerns knowledge, the mind and the way we see the scientifically explicable world.
- 8What is the practical?Practical reason concerns actions, the will and the way we see ourselves.
- 9What is Kant's main argument?Kant says freedom is a postulate practical reason. Kant’s argument is that our own self awareness, without which the world would not make sense to us, forces on us the idea that we are free, so we cannot get rid of the idea that we are free without ceasing to see ourselves as the originator of our actions.
- 10What does this mean?Soft determinism is not a mix of HD and L, but is a position taken due to the need to have some accountability and responsibility for human behaviour.
- 11What do soft determinists mean by free?we are not free to fly just using our own bodies to propel us through the air – this is to misuse the word ‘free and change it from meaning ‘being able to choose’ and ‘being physically able to do’.
- 12What does SD say about our actions?we are morally responsible for, and can reasonably be punished and praised for, those actions which are caused by our own desires and decisions.
- 13Criticism: ClarityHard for the soft determinist to decide what is determined and what can be freely chosen. The complex roles of physics genetics and human psychology make deciding what exactly is, and is not a determining factor very difficult.
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- a2 Religious Studies (Ethics) Flashcards on FW/D - Soft Determinism, created by Ella Foster on 22/06/2017.
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- Ella Foster
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