Issues and Debates

• Definition: free-will

  Humans can make choices and are not determined by internal or external forces
• Definition: determinism

  an individuals behaviour is controlled by internal or external forces
• Definition: hard determinism

  all behaviour is caused by internal or external forces, free-will is an illusion
• definition: soft determinism

  behaviour may be predicted by external or internal forces but there is some restricted free-will
• definition: biological determinism


  behaviour is caused by biological influences that we cannot control
• definition: environmental determinism


  behaviour is caused by features of the environment that we cannot control (eg: punishment + reward)
• definition: psychic determinism

  behaviour is caused by unconscious psychodynamic conflicts we cannot control