Humans are SELF-DETERMINING organisms / can freely make their OWN choices
Determinism
Overall idea that humans CANNOT make their own decisions
Types of determinism
Hard determinism - All human behaviour has a cause i.e. genes or environment
Soft determinism - Human action has a cause with limitedfreedom of choices
Types of Determinism:
Biological: Behaviour caused by influence of genes.
Environmental: Behaviour is the result of conditioning.
Psychic: influence of biological drives and unconsciousconflicts.
EVIDENCE DOESNT SUPPORT FREE WILL.
Libet et al. asked ppts to flick their wrist and say when they felt the will to stop. Brain scans showed the unconscious brain activity came half a second before the conscious decision. Suggesting basic experiences are biologically determined.
FREE WILL HAS PRACTICAL VALUE
Roberts et al. found adolescents that held strong fatalist views were more likely to be depressed. suggests having belief in free will can have a positive impact on behaviour.
