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FREE WILL & MORAL RESPONSIBILITY - Coggle Diagram
FREE WILL & MORAL RESPONSIBILITY
COMPATIBILISM
View that Free will hand determinism are mutually compatible- its possible to believe in both without being logically inconsistent
-HUME: - thinks we have 'liberty of spontaneity'- the ability to do what you desirefree will and determinism are held to be incompatible because philosophers habit defined their terms properly
Compatibilists believe freedom can be present or absent in situations for reasons that have nothing to do with metaphysics.
They say that out own values, desires and prior choices can determine how we act in certain situation However these 'causes' of our actions are so complex and numerous they are almost completely random in their effects and may not determine a precise or specific action.
For libertarians, Humes compatibilism ignores the very power of reason by which Humes arrives at compatibilism
Humes philosophical method is brilliant it is correct that if we accept his definitions then everything becomes clear.
LIBERITARIANISM
The philosophical position that humans possess free willreject all forms of determinism as false they argue that we act as free moral agents, in all matters of right and wrong
Most are mind-body dualists- the mind is able to act freely in the physical world
A 'moderate' libertarian: wouldn't deny the external world is deterministic would accept that deterministic processes affect living beingswould accept the personality is, to a large extent, governed by heredity, social situations and environment
They insist human behaviour is not determined by external causesour sense of guilt when something goes wrong suggests were freewe can chose what to do, and therefore we must take responsibilityif we were determined, we wouldn't feel guilty about choosing certain things
However human behaviour is limited byphysical limitations psychological limitations social limitations
dea of complete freedom makes little sense
CRITICISMS
Determinists criticise Libertarians and maintain that free will and decision- making is an illusion created by the great complexity of mental processes.
Our personalities seem to be determined by factors such as our genes and the way we have been brought up, making our 'choices' merely the product or prior causes outside our control.
STRENGTHS
Our experience of everyday life tells us that we do appear to have choices in life We can choose different things, whether this is what to have for breakfast, what clothes to buy or which universities we want to study it
Plenty of people from violent backgrounds with ancestors who have been murderers have gone on to be good people
Our genes might influence us, but they do not control our behaviour.
It allows us to attribute praise and blame to people so that they can be rewarded or punished as appropriate.
This makes our system of criminal justice possible, as it relies on us having the ability to choose.
The feelings of guilt we experience arise because we realise that we have made a wrong moral choice, supporting free will's existence.
HARD DETERMINISM
Human behaviour & actions are wholly determined by a range of internal and external factors therefore humans dont have genuine free will
Human behaviour & actions are wholly determined by a range of internal and external factors therefore humans dont have genuine free wil
we may think we are free to choose what we do, but freedom is an illusion
SCIENTIFIC
All events including human actions & choices are determined by antecedent events, so there can be no free will
science tells us that for every physical event theres a physical causewere made of matter which obeys laws of physics e.g gravity
if we consider the mind to be material activity in the brain, chemical impulses, then our thoughts and sesires are also pre determined
Ultimately everything has a physical cause, so free will does not exist. There is a long chain of causation stretching back to the Big Bang and forward from here and now into the future
PSYCHOLOGICAL
All behaviour is a result of genetic & environmental conditions
all human actions depend on consequence of previous actions
Good conseqenses = repeatedBad consequences = avoidance
PAVLOVS DOGS:classical conditioning: automatic conditioned response is paired with a specific stimulus this creates behaviour
Cannot apply applications of the principles of animal behaviour much more complex human behaviour
this is unsound
THEOLOGICAL
The future is determined by Gods omnipotence, so there can be no free will
An omniscient God must know the entire past, present & future of the universe
AQUINAS & CALVIN :God determines our futures accordingly- he's already decided who's going heaven or hell
If God know a person will perform an action a some point in their life, that person cant avoid performing that action
A TIMELESS GOD : some argue his omniscience means he sees the result of our free future choices, but doesnt cause them
A TEMPORAL GOD: alternative view that God exists in time, so he cannot know the futureso theological determinism = false