Free will / Determinism

• What is Free Will?

  The notion that humans can make choices and are not determined by biological or external factors.
• What is Determinism?


  The view that an individual's behaviour is shaped or controlled by internal or external forces rather than an individuals will to do something.
• What is Hard Determinism?

  Implies that free will is not possible as our behaviour is always caused by internal and external events beyond our control.
• What is Soft Determinism?

  All events, including human behaviour, have causes, but behaviour can also be determined by our conscious choices in the absence of coercion. In contrast with hard determinism.
• What is Biological Determinism?

  The belief that behaviour is caused by biological (genetic, hormonal, evolutionary) influences that we cannot control.
• What is Psychic Determinism?

  The belief that behaviour is caused by unconscious conflicts that we cannot control.
• What is Environmental Determinism?

  The belief that behaviour is caused by features of the environment (such as systems of rewards and punishment) that we cannot control.
• What is the Free will vs Determinism scale of approaches?

  
• What is a limitation of Free will vs Determinism?

  Implications of determinism

  • Using determinism to excuse behaviour is a possible outcome of a hard determinism stance.
  • This could cause issues for the criminal justice system, as it takes the responsibility and accountability away and suggests they can't control their behaviour -> may be dangerous for society.
• What is a strength for Free will vs Determinism?

  Determinism is scientific

  • Leads to casual explanations. (e.g. some genes may cause a person to commit crimes. This can be useful in preventing crimes, as the gene can be identified in childhood and measures can be taken to prevent it developing to crime.
• What is another strength of Free will vs Determinism?

  Free will is useful when treating mental health

  • Having a free-will approach when treating mental health may lead to a higher success rate. If people believe their actions have caused an illness, it will be easier for them to choose to cure it. (e.g. depression uses CBT to treat patients, which challenges their beliefs.
• What is another limitation for Free will vs Determinism?

  Free will isn't scientific

  • The belief that our behaviour is due to our choices has very low validity as it is difficult to test/prove that this is true. This therefore makes it difficult to go through scientifically proven treatment and prevention measures.
• What is another strength of Free will vs Determinism?

  Research support for determinism

  • Libert (1980s) demonstrated that activity in the brain's motor regions can be detected 300 milliseconds before a person feels that they have decided to more -> he was aware of their intentions before they were aware of what they were going to do. This supports hard determinism and that free will is an illusion.