Freewill and Determinism

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Key reflections1. Are we as free as we think?

2. What factors limit our ability to act freely?

3. How should individual freedom be balanced against social interests?

4. Can we be morally blameworthy for our actions if we are not free?

LO: to define and give examples of the major concepts of the topic.

Libertarianism and DeterminismRub your hands together vigorously.

Describe in detail what just happened and why.

The friction that occurred from vigorously rubbing your hands together caused the hands to heat up.

There is a theory that everything that happens in the universe has a cause. This is called the theory of universal causation.

Without causation, science would not work. When an individual is ill, doctors must establish the cause before they can offer a cure.

So, can universal causation also be the determining factor in regard to human action? Are humans truly free to make decisions in a given situation, or do all the circumstances that led to that person being in that specific situation, determine an inevitable outcome?

Libertarianism (Free Will/Incompatiblism):

Hard Determinism:

Soft Determinism (Compatibilism):

The theory that we are free to act as we wish and therefore the individual is morally responsible for their own actions as people are ‘self-determining’, which means they make their choices of their own volition.

The theory that all human decisions and actions are determined by other events and actions that happened prior to that moment. This removes any individual moral responsibility as a person’s decisions are determined by external factors.

The theory that some human actions are determined by things such as values, desires and prior choices, but that the individual is still free to make a moral choice at the moment of decision and thus is morally responsible.

1. Write a brief definition for each perspective. 2. Which view do you most agree with?

LO: to define and give examples of the major concepts of the topic.

How free is our Free Will?When referring to a person’s free will, people often assume it equates to some kind of permission slip; ‘I want to do this, I have free will, therefore, I can.’

But just how free are we to make our own choices? Can you choose to fly, for instance, become God or even the Pope?

Free will can only work in the parameters of the surrounding influences that may indeed limit it. Give an example of our limitations from these influences:

Family Genetics & Environment

Natural Law Society Religion Conscience

To what degree is a person to blame?Consider: An army sniper is stationed on a roof in Baghdad. He looks through his scope, aligns his target, squeezes the trigger and shoots dead an innocent civilian.

4. The soldier

shot the innocent

civilian by mistake because he was a poor shot.

5. The soldier was hallucinating after having taken some drugs.

1. The soldier was acting on an order from his superior officer.

3. The soldier

intentionally shot the innocent civilian.

2. The soldier had

been threatened

with execution if he didn’t obey his orders.

Task: 1. In the boxes below write down the scenarios you are given in order of how much the soldier is to blame for his actions.2. Is the soldier morally responsible in each case?3. Should there be any difference in the way that he is punished?

Most Blameworthy

Least Blameworthy

LO: to define and give examples of the major concepts of the topic.

What can you learn in 5 minutes?

• In 3 groups, look at one of the 3 different areas:– Hard determinism– Soft determinism– Libertarianism

• Make notes on the main ideas of the theory and major criticisms.

• Don’t worry – we will go spend some more time on the main thinkers at a later date.

Q: How would a libertarian, a hard determinist and a soft determinist view this situation and how might they justify their thinking?

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LO: to define and give examples of the major concepts of the topic.

ASBO family banned from borough

A family of five have been banned from harassing anyone in England and Wales and also banned from their home borough of Wirral.

A court was told the Bridge family's neighbours in Grosvenor Road, New Brighton, had "lived in fear" of them. District Judge Nick Sanders issued the ASBOon Thursday at Birkenhead Magistrates Court. It affects John Bridge, 40, his wife Karen, 37, and their sons John Jnr, 20, Alan, 18, and Luke, 16.

The family were alleged to have been involved in threatening and violent behaviour, verbal abuse, intimidation and criminal behaviour, including dangerous driving and organised vehicle crime. The reputation of the family is very strong and residents were incredibly frightened of reprisals.

John Jnr and Alan are currently serving prison sentences and, along with their parents, are banned until September 2012, while Luke has been banned from returning to Wirral until March 2009.

Suppose during the hearing John Jnr, Alan and Luke had claimed that they were not to blame for their actions as they were a product of their upbringing.

Task: In pairs prepare a case both for the prosecution and defence using the three views on moral responsibility you have looked at so far.

[BBC News Archive September 2006]

Is there a moral responsibility?

In stating that a person has a moral responsibility to act in one way or another automatically suggests they have the ability to choose which option to take. Thus morality depends on freedom

If I am forced to drive a bank robber’s getaway car at gunpoint, can I be blamed? If I am forced to donate to charity at gunpoint should I be praised?

“Ought” implies “can”

Q: What did Kant mean by this and was he right?

Praise or sanctions for moral decisions are only valid for actions freely undertaken.

“Man is not free not to be free.”

John-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) What do you think French philosopher, John-Paul Sartre, meant when he said...

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

• Sartre believed that ‘At the start, man simply is.’ Therefore this blank canvas, as it were, is nothing other than a ‘perpetual process of self creation’. In other words, we are responsible for who we have become and so freedom, in Sartre’s thinking, excuses no one.

• Sartre referred to man’s freedom as a burden, as to him, absolute freedom ultimately equates to absolute responsibility; ‘Man, as completely free, has the complete responsibility over his freedom.’

Sartre‘There are no accidents in life…’‘Man is condemned to be free, because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything that he does.’ (Being and Nothingness)