EDUQAS Alevel RS Ethics 4E Libertarianism

what is libertarianism

freedom from control or fate (opposite to determinism)

what is an existentialist

a philosophical theory or application which emphasises the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent, determining their ow development through acts if will

what is philosophical libertarianism

Jean Paul Sartre, there is no determinism - man is free, man is freedom. Freedom is the result of two things: no God and self conciseness

what are the two reasons people have freedom

no God and self consciousness

why is no God a reason we have freedom

Sartre believes that God does not exist, "there is no God, so man must rely on his own fallible will and moral insights. He cannot escape choosing'

Because there its no God there is no supreme or higher power controlling humanity therefore we are free as there is no controlling deity. He also believed that we were condemned to freedom, man is not free to not be free

why does self conciseness mean that we have free will

Sartre also argued people can understand they have free will because humanity is 'pour soi' (being for itself-) unlike animals who are being in itself bevies they don't make choices like humans do. En Soi individuals (animals) are not self conscious or aware of themselves; whereas pour-soi beings have possession of a self consciousness I.e an awareness of their own excuses. Animals don't think about the outcome only their instinct. Our self concouisness enables us to think about and consider the different possible futures that might come about from different actions. therefore people can reflect on their own lives and the choices that they make without force.

who is Jean Paul Sartre

Twentieth century French philosopher whose philosophy of existentialism rejects all claims to ethical norms that are valid for everybody

what is the gap

we make ourselves from moment to moment through free decisions, the distance between human mind and the outside world is the gap. Cause and effect does not operate in our minds as iy does on the world and we cannot override physical restrictions but being human allows us to have freedom in our own ideals and responsibilities for them.

- we make decisions and then act to bring about the consequences

- we see the consequences then set out our own ideals

- we make further choices according to the ideals we invent

- we are constantly aware we could choose differently

- we thus make ourselves and the responsibility is a burden

- we have no choice but to choose

what is the waiter illustration given by Sartre

in claiming that our actions are caused by external influences we deny our freedom and act in bad faith, this means that we give in to social forces and adopt external values. Think of a waiter with a posh voice cutting in an act to seem overly keen, this is bad faith as it is not his true freedom. he is adopting a role dictated by society.

what is bad faith

self deception, people deny their own freedom and remove responsibility to make easier decisions and escape the pain. He says that it is to escape the pain and anguish of life by pretending to themselves that they are not free. People convince themselves that their attitudes and actions are determined by things outside of themselves.

what is Sartre's ideas of a gift and a curse

he sees humanity freedom as a gift and a curse,

the gift: people have the freedom of making something out of their lives, taking responsibility of your choices

the curse: freedom brings the responsibility that a person must develop their own lives, this is because freedom brings responsibility, there are people who do not want to take responsibility but by doing that they are still responsible, The things that go wrong is still on you, its not predetermined it is the choices you make

what is biological libertarianism

presented by Dr Angela Sirigu, within the mind there might eb free will. Over the last century science has supported determinism but recent advances in genetics and cognitive neuroscience suggests libertarian ideas

what is cognitive neuroscience

The scientific study of the influence of brain structures on mental processes. In 2012 they reported that they may have potentially found that free will is sited in part if the brain called the pre frontal cortex

what experiment did Dr Angela Sirigu do

she electrically jolted the pre frontal cortex in 7 patients undergoing brain surgery, they were all awake to allow questions to be answered, each patient said they had a desire to move when their brain was jolted. When using stronger pulses they said that they thought that had actually carried out this movement. The premotor cortex then returns the outcomes of the movement to the parietal cortex and you need both of these to see whether the action was carried out.

what was Dr Angela Sirigu's conclusion

the parietal cortex only passes on one specific instruction to the premotor cortex. Therefore according to sirigu the partial cortext must go through a variety of possible movements that could be made but only elects one to send to the premotor cortex that then makes the move, consciousness in this case is free will