Free Will vs Determinism

Free Will

"... the notion that humans can make choices and are not determined by biological or external forces"

- Essentially suggests that we are self-determining, meaning that we can choose our own thought and actions

- Free Will doesn't completely deny that we are not influenced by biology or external forces entirely, but says that we can choose to reject these forces and are in charge of our own destiny

The Humanistic Approach + Free Will

=> the humanistic approach largely advocates free will

=> Roger's Client Centred Therapy is based on the idea that we are free to change our lives by choosing to see our situations in a different way

=> removes the barriers that we face in achieving personal growth

... allows us to achieve Self Actualisation

Determinism

"... the view that an individual's behaviour is shaped by or controlled by internal or external forces rather than an individual's will to do something"

- All deterministic stances suggest that there is no place for free will in the explanation of human behaviour

- It suggests everything has a cause that is largely out of our control

=> hard determinism

=> soft determinism

Hard Determinism

... implies that free will is impossible as our behaviour is always caused by internal or external events beyond our control

- Suggests there is no such thing as free will

- Is compatible with the aims of science in that we can uncover the causal laws that govern our thoughts and actions

- Sometimes referred to as fatalism

- Suggests all behaviour has a cause and we should be able to predict and describe these causes

- Suggests that everything we do is already determined and completely beyond our control

Soft Determinism

... all events, including human behaviour, have causes, but behaviour can also be determined by our conscious choices in the absence of coercion

- Acknowledges that all behaviours have a cause but gives more flexibility, in suggesting that we have conscious mental control over the way we behave

- William James suggested that whilst it's still the job of science to explain the many determining forces that act upon us, that does not detract from the freedom we have to make conscious, rational decisions in every day situations

Soft Determinism founder

William James

Forms of Determinism

Biological

Environmental

Psychic

Biological Determination

= the belief that behaviour is caused by biological influences (genetic, hormonal, evolutionary) that we cannot control

- Everything we do is caused by internal biological factors

- Neurological and physiological processes are out of our control

e.g., fight or flight response

- Mental disorders have a genetic basis

e.g., schizophrenia

- Research has widely documented the influence of hormones on behaviour

e.g., testosterone is linked to increased aggressive tendencies

=> The modern view on biological determinism also accepts that the environment influences our biology, and consequently influences our behaviour, but this simply means we are "doubly determined" in ways we cannot control

... the biological approach emphasises biological determinism

Environmental Determinism

= the belief that behaviour is caused by features of the environment (such as systems of reward and punishment) that we cannot control

- Skinner described free will as an "illusion" and argues that all behaviour was the result of conditioning

- whilst we think we are acting independently, our behaviour has already been shaped, or determined, by environmental events such as agents of socialisation (parents, teachers. Friends, school, etc.)

- what we think is our "choice" is simply the sum total of all forms of reinforcement we have come into contact with over our lives

Psychic Determinism

= the belief that behaviour is caused by unconscious conflicts that we cannot control

- Sigmund Freud suggests that free will is an "illusion" and our behaviour is determined by biological drives and instincts

- He sees behaviour as being driven by unconscious conflicts that we have repressed in childhood

- He suggests that there is no such thing as an accident, and even a slip of the tongue can be explained by the underlying control of our unconscious mind

=> where "Freudian Slip" comes from

A03 FOR determinism

P

A case for determinism is that it is consistent with the aims of science.

EX

If we can see behaviour as orderly and law abiding, then we can out psychology on a more equal footing with the natural sciences and we can use psychological research to predict and control behaviour for applications like therapy and drug interventions for mental health conditions.

EV

For example, conditions such as schizophrenia, where sufferers lose complete control over their thoughts and emotions supports more deterministic research and casts doubt over free will as no one would "choose" to suffer with a mental illness.

C

However, it could be argued that by seeing and treating mental illnesses purely based their biological causes, cold result in other underlying causes such as trauma being ignored. In the case of depression caused by domestic abuse, treating just the fluctuation of neurotransmitters without removing the suffer from the negative situation is unlikely to improve the situation.

LB

This matters because whilst the casual explanations provided by the deterministic approach to research have benefits to the health and well-being of many individuals, it is important to avoid taking a too narrow approach which risks losing the richness of the human experience.

A03 AGAINST determinism

P

However, hard determinism and the belief that we are in no way in control of our behaviour, is not consistent with the way on which our legal system.

EX

In a court of law, offenders are found personally responsible, and held morally accountable for their actions. If we follow a hard deterministic approach, then the actions of the offender were entirely out of their control, which poses the question as to whether they should be punished or not.

EV

For example, in 1994, Stephen Mobley was convicted of the murder of a Dominos Pizza store manager, but whilst on death row, his legal team argued that he had inherited a "criminal gene" as 4 generations of his family had also committed violent crimes. Therefore, it could be argued that Mobley had no control over his actions and was predetermined to commit a crime.

C

However, although Mobley's claim was unsuccessful, other instances of appeal have been more successful. For example, Abdelmalek Bayout was given a 9-year sentence for stabbing and killing a man, but this sentence was cut by 1 year after the judge learned he had a mutated gene that made him more likely to commit aggressive and violent acts.

LB

This has been an important discovery in the field of criminal justice, and lead to the introduction of the law of diminished responsibility where in extreme cases, offenders are given leniency on the grounds that they were not acting entirely within their own free will. This demonstrates the practical application of a deterministic stance.

A03 FOR Free Will

P

Every day experience gives us the impression that we exercise free will through the choices we make in every day life. This gives the concept of free will face validity.

EX

Research suggests that those with a high internal locus of control, meaning those who believe they have a higher degree of control over their own fate, tend to also be more mentally healthy.

EV

Roberts et al. (2000) demonstrated that adolescents with a string belief, in fatalism were significantly more likely to develop depression.

C

However, a deterministic stance would argue that the adolescents found to have a strong belief in fatalism and who suffered from depression, could also have had an underlying genetic disposition for depression, which is the cause of the fatalistic beliefs in the first instance, therefore being deterministic.

LB

This suggests that even if we do not have free will, the fact that we do has a positive effect on our mental health and wellbeing.

A03 AGAINST Free Will

P

Neurological studies into decision making have discovered research evidence against free will.

EV

Two separate studies, first by Libet (1995) and more recently by Soon et al. (2008) have demonstrated that the brain activity that determines the outcome of simple choices seems to occur before we are aware of even making such a choice. The researchers found that the activity related to pushing a button with either left or right hand occurs in the brain up to 10 seconds before participants report being consciously aware of making such a decision

EX

This suggest that even the simplest of decisions and the most basic demonstrations of what we believe is to be free will, have actually been determined by brain activity before we realise, we are making them

C

However, those that believe in a firm free will stance, could suggest that it was our free will-based decision that triggered the brain activity and that the delay is down to individual reaction times, rather than a pre-dating out conscious awareness of actions.

LB

This is important as it suggests a degree of biological determinism that should not be overlooked when considering the root of human behaviour.

A03 Interactionist Approach

P

An interactionist approach may be the best compromise in the free will vs determinism debate

EX

Approaches such as social learning theory focus on the environmental influences on an individual, but also accepts there is a cognitive element to the way we learn to behave. These approaches tend to adopt a soft deterministic approach.

EV

Bandura argues that although environmental factors in learning are key, we are free to choose who or what to attend to, and how to respond or act in certain situations.

LB

This is important to consider as viewing phenomena from both perspectives can help us to understand the richness and complexity of human behaviour that could be missed by taking a hard stance on either side of the debate.