Determinism

• What is hard determinism?

  The view that all of our actions are predetermined so we have no free will
• What is cause and effect?

  Every event in the universe has a cause. This applies to physical and mental events; every thought we think and decision we take is merely an event in a chain of causes and effects
• Why does hard determinism govern ethical choices?

  Ethical choices do not exist: our moral decisions are as determined as anything else. We may think that we are free to choose what to do, but such freedom is merely an illusion created by the complex processes that go on in the human brain. Since freedom is an illusion, we are not logically justified in claiming responsibility for our actions, even if we feel that we have freely chosen to do them
• What is scientific determinism?

  A form of hard determinism which holds that all events, including human actions and choices, are determined by antecedent events and states of affairs, so there can be no freedom of the will
• Why is the CBM relevant to the scientific determinist argument?

  It is the oldest light in the universe, dating around 378,000 years after the Big Bang. Using this light, we can trace the complete sequence of cause and effect, beginning with the Big Bang and culminating in the present. Therefore, we can also determine the future too
• Can we avoid scientific determinism?

  Scientific theories are based on probability so there it is possible that scientific theories are wrong. History shows that newer theories replace older ones as our knowledge increases, therefore in the future all that we now regard as the laws of nature will be discarded and replaced. So scientific laws cannot claim absolute truth
• What is psychological determinism?

  All behaviour is the result of genetic and environmental conditions, and all human actions are conditioned by the good/bad consequences of previous decisions, so there can be no free will
• What is classical conditioning?

  a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events
• What experiment was carried out culminating in the idea of classical conditioning?

  Pavlov's dogs
• What is operant conditioning?

  A type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher
• What is theological determinism?

  A form of hard determinism according to which the future is determined by God's foreknowledge, so there can be no free will
• What did Calvin conclude?

  God has already predetermined our choices. The omniscience of God means that he is the cause of everything. God's omniscience means that some are ordained to glory and others to eternal torment.
• What did Augustine conclude?

  Believed that because God lived outside of time he has knowledge of all things but this doesn't impact our free will. Therefore, God only has foreknowledge, it does not impact our ability to act freely. He has knowledge of all future events.
• What is the problem of foreknowledge?

  If God knows that you will do 'x' at a specific point in the future, you cannot avoid doing 'x'. Therefore free will must be an illusion, all events are determined by God's omniscience
• What does Aquinas argue?

  God does not exist in time; he exists timelessly. Some argue that God's omniscience means that God sees the results of our future free choices but does not cause them. God has the power to intervene and control but does not
• Hard determinism conclusion

  There is no evidence that hard determinism is true or false. For the non-religious, theological determinism is a non-starter. Libet's experiments in psychology seem to show that the brain prepares to act well before we are conscious of the urge to move. The implication of this is that the will is not under an individual's conscious control, but the result of determined electrical brain processes. If this is the case then free will is denied until activities determine. Determinist philosophers and scientists agree. But Libet himself denied it because he argued that the brain has the ability to veto pre-conscious intentions and the veto has to be chosen