free will vs determinism

• free will is the idea that humans have the ability to make choices and decisions about their own actions and behaviours, not influenced by biological and external forces
• determinism is the idea that all behaviour is caused by external and internal factors rather than an individuals will to do something
• hard determinism is the idea that all behaviour is determined by external factors and free will is an illusion
• soft determinism is the view that behaviour may be predictable but there is also an influence from freedom to make conscious, rational decisions
• the 3 types of determinism are: biological determinism, psychic determinism, and environmental determinism
• biological determinism is the idea that behaviour is determined by biological factors which we cannot control such as genes and hormones
• environmental determinism is the idea that behaviour is determined by the features of our environment which we cannot control, such as reward and punishment systems
• psychic determinism is the idea that our behaviour is determined by our unconscious psychodynamic conflicts that we cannot control
• a limitation of determinism (specifically hard determinism) is that it is not consistent with our legal system- hard determinism believes we have no individual choice in our behaviour- however in a court of law offenders are held responsible for their actions