Free will V Determinism

• Free will is the idea that although some things are predetermined we can still make choices for our behaviour.
• Determinism implies there is not place for free will and that all behaviour is caused by external factors and is pre determined.
• An example of free will is the concept of humanism.

  This outlines that although some behaviour is predetermined we still make the choices to reach self actualisation.

  It is all through our own motivation and decisions that determine our self actualisation and congruence.
• An example of a hard deterministic stance is the biological determinism of the biological approach to OCD which states it is the result of low serotonin and genetics.

  Psychic determinism is also a hard form of determinism and is because Freud states free will is an illusion and all behaviour is the result of childhood experience and the unconscious mind.

  Environmental determinism is also hard and is used in behaviourism which states behaviour is the result of interactions with our environment.
• A good thing about free will is that it has face validity because we feel as though we make choices and therefore we feel as though we have free will.

  Even if we don’t have free will it’s healthy to think we do as Roberts found that fatalists (people believing in hard determinism) are more inclined to depression.

  Therefore, even if we don't have free will, the fact we believe we do can have positive impacts.
• However, the problem with free will is it’s an unfalsifiable concept.

  This is because it can’t be scientifically tested or proven to be false and therefore you can’t definitively say that it exists.
• The good thing about determinism is that it’s falsifiable as it can be tested.

  For example if you think schizophrenia is caused by high dopamine, you can conduct brain scans to measure how many dopamine receptors are present.

  This can then lead to practical applications such as drug treatments.

  This therefore increases scientific credibility and suggests a deterministic stance can be positive.
• However, determinism, specifically hard determinism states that an individual‘s choices are not the cause of their behaviour.

  This opposes the legal system as the notions of the Criminal Justice System is that offenders should be held accountable for their actions.

  When tried in court offenders exercise their free will but determinism states they don’t have this.

  This therefore is not appropriate in the real world and therefore deterministic arguments don’t work.