free will and determinism

• the notion of free will suggests humans are free to make choices. There are biological and environmental influence on our behaviour but free will implies we can reject them. This is the view of the humanistic approach
• hard determinism suggests that all human action has a cause, and it should be possible to identify these causes

  soft determinism suggests that all human action has a cause but people have freedom to make choices within a restricted range of options
• the 3 types of determinism are:

  biological determinism

  environmental determinism

  psychic determinism
• biological determinism is the idea that behaviour is determined by biological factors such as genes
• environmental determinism is the idea that behaviour is determined by the environment and not by free will
• psychic determinism is the idea that our behaviour is determined by our unconscious thoughts and feelings
• one strength of free will is that it has practical value. Roberts et al. looked at adolescents who has a strong belief in fatalism- that their lives were 'decided' by events outiside of their control. They were at greater risk if developing depression. People who exhibit an internal, rather than external, locals of control are more likely ti be optimistic. This suggests that, even if we do not have free will, the fact that we believe we do may have a positive impact on mind and behaviour
• One limitation of free will is that evidence doesn't support it. Libet et al. asked participants to randomly flick their wrist and say when they felt the will to move. Brain activity was also measured. The unconscious brain activity leading up to the conscious decision to move came half a second before the participants conscious decision to move. This may be interpreted as meaning that even our most basic experiences of free will are actually determined by our brain before we are aware of them
• One strength of determinism is that there is evidence to support. Libet et al asked participants to randomly flick their wrist and say when they felt the will to move. Brain activity was also measured. The unconscious brain activity leading up to the conscious decision to move came half a second before the participants conscious decision to move. This may be interpreted as meaning that even our most basic experiences of free will are actually determined by our brain before we are aware of them
• One limitation of determinism is the role of responsibility in law. The hard determinist stance isn't consistent with the way in which ur legal system operates. In court, offenders are held responsible for their actions. Indeed, the main principle of our legal system is that the defendant exercised their free will in committing the crime. This suggests that, in the real world, determinist arguments do not work