P1 Free Will and Determinism

The free will vs. determinism debate argues whether our behaviour

• can be explained by more complex ideas or simplistic ideas

• is best explained by looking at the individual to create a unique explanation or groups to create general laws

• is because of a choice or because of internal and external factors out of our control

• is caused by biological factors or environmental influences

____________ states that all behaviour has a cause and effect.

• Soft determinism

• Hard determinism

• Libertarianism

This version allows for some free will. What type of determinism is this?

• Soft Determinism

• Hard Determinism

• Scientific Determinism

• Libertarianism

Libertarians argue that we are morally responsible for our use of free will.

• True

• False

Determinism is the idea that

• All events have no cause

• All events have a cause

• Some events have no cause

• Some events have a cause

Which of the following philosophers hold a soft deterministic viewpoint?

• Steven Pinker

• Jean-Paul Sartre

• Immanuel Kant

• John Locke

• Baruch Spinoza

Answer explanation

Pinker states that man might be predisposed to violence, but reason controls that predisposition, while Kant says our own self-awareness, without which the world would not make sense to us, forces on us the idea that we are free. This makes both philosophers soft determinists.

A libertarian view is that

• We are all under the control of God

• Animals do not have free will

• Humans have no free will

• Humans have free will

According to hard determinism, are individuals responsible for their actions?

• Yes

• No

• Only on weekends

• Sometimes

What are the key arguments against hard determinism?

• The absence of ethical accountability

• The lack of personal agency

• The existence of free will, unpredictability of human behaviour, and potential for moral responsibility

• The inevitability of fate

Is the following statement determinism or free will?

Jackie knows that her parents want her to become a doctor, but she decides to go into engineering instead.

• determinism

• free will