Free will vs Determinism

• What is free will?

  The notion that humans can make choices & their behaviour/thoughts are determined by biological or external factors
• What approach is associated with the free will debate?

  Humanistic approach
• What is determinism?

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

  The view that all behaviour is caused by something, so free will is an illusion (fatalism)
• What is soft determinism?

  The view that behaviour may be predictable due to internal/external factors but there is also room or personal choice from a limited range of possibilities
• Who proposed soft determinism?

  James
• What are the different types of determinism?

  Psychic, environmental, biological
• What is biological determinism?

  Behaviour is caused by biological influences & our physiological & neurological processes aren't under our control
• What approach is associated with biological determinism?

  Biological approach
• What is an example of biological determinism?

  Autonomous nervous system during the stress response or the influence of genes on mental health
• What is environmental determinism?

  All behaviour is the result of conditioning, our experience of choice is the result of reinforcement contingencies

  Skinner - "free will is an illusion"
• What approach is associated with environmental determinism?

  Behaviourist approach
• What is psychic determinism?

  Human behaviour as determined and directed by unconscious conflicts, which were repressed in childhood

  No such thing as an accident & things seen as the slip of the tongue can be explained as the influence of the unconscious

  Freud - "free will is an illusion"
• What approach is associated with psychic determinism?

  Freud's psychodynamic approach