Free will and moral responsibility

Free will

The ability to make reasoned and conscious choices even though there may be limits or influences on them.

3 levels of legal responsibility in UK law

No responsibility

Diminished responsibility

Full responsibility

Four groups of people who are incapable of understanding the difference between right and wrong

Babies and young people because they are under developed.

People with severe learning difficulties/ those with neurological illnesses.

Those who have permanently forgotten the difference such as people with dementia.

Those who have temporarily forgotten (controversial-drunk people?)

Sources of moral awareness in telling right from wrong.

Hume-we just know we ought to respond positively to those in need of help.

Others- blame the upbringing, social environment, or culture.

Can come from religious tradition.

Incompatibilism

The view that hard determinism and libertarianism are incompatible

Humans cannot be both determined and free

Adopted by both Hard determinists and Libertarianists

Hard determinism

The view that all events and situations, including human actions and decisions, are the necessary consequences of previous events and actions

Scientific determinism

Form of hard determinism that is based on evidence from natural and applied sciences.

Psychological behaviourism

human behaviour is caused by environmental conditions and all actions are conditioned by previous ones.

Contingent truth

The ones that cannot be proved true but which are generally accepted as true on grounds of probability.

If A is usually followed by B, it is safe to assume that A will be followed by B.

Compatibilism

The view that human freedom and moral responsibility are compatible with determinism

Approaches to the treatment of crime

Reformation

Retribution

Reformation

Dealing with what led to the offender committing the crime, enabling them to face up to what they have done and leads to a changed attitude.

Retribution

Giving the offender what they deserve for an action that was deliberately chosen and allowing reparation to be made for the offence.

Hard determinism

Reward and punishment

Meaningless since those who break the law did not choose to do so. Religious doctrine of predestination makes them even more pointless.

Reject retribution

Skinner - psychological conditioning as a way of reforming an offender’s character and outlook by manipulating their minds.

Libertarianism

Reward and punishment

Kant - retribution is the appropriate response to crime, ‘ought implies can’ points to free will. Retribution is for those who have full responsibility, not diminished.

Some libertarians - reform is appropriate because they want to help offenders face up to their crime, encouraging them to make different choices in the future.

Compatibilism

Reward and punishment

Accept moral responsibility for those who could have done otherwise.

Hume - actions should be judged praise/blame worthy only where ‘they are indications of the internal character.’ Hume intended punishment to improve society. Hume rejected any idea of eternal punishment on moral grounds as its a disproportionate response to ‘the short term offences of a frail creature like man.’

Theological determinism

Found in the doctrine of predestination that was developed by Augustine and Calvin. God’s omniscience is understood as causative and so there cannot be free choice.

Aquinas - God’s omniscience is NOT causative. God exists timelessly and so simply knows. Actions stemming from our free choices cause God’s omniscience. God exists in time so cannot know the future.