Concepts of determinism - Hard determinism

What is determinism?

• Determinism is a non religious concept. 

• The idea that all events/choices have a cause and  therefore are fixed and unalterable. 

• Determinism does not require any belief in a God and current events are dependent upon preceding causes and future events can be predicted by looking at  current events.

• There are 2 approaches to determinism - hard & soft.

What is hard determinism?

What are the 3 different types? 

• Had determinism is the belief that all actions are  ultimately caused and therefore determined - there is  no such thing as free will. 

• It is an incompatible approach - determinism and free  will cannot be believed at the same time, either we are  free or we are not because humanities free will is completely limited by external factors.

There are 3 different types determining external factors:

• Philosophical 

• Scientific 

• Psychological 
  

Who is philosophical determinism argued by?

• Philosophical determinism is argued by John Locke

• Universal causation

Why did John Locke believe free will doesn’t exist and why? - Philosophical determinism

• John Locke believed that freewill does not exist because all human choices have a past cause/set of past causes which we have no control over - universal causation.

• i.e. everything has a cause and effect and vice versa.

• The future must be as fixed as the unchangeable past.

What did John Locke believe/say freewill is? - Philosophical determinism

• Locke believed freewill is just an illusion. 

• We simply think we have free will, but this is not the case - we are deluding ourselves.

• This is because people who believe they have freewill think they do because they can pause and reflect before making a choice. 

• However, Locke believed that all such thoughts were just people’s ignorance 

• Most people do not have the intelligence to see that actually there are no choices at all to be made. 

What analogy did Locke use? - philosophical determinism

• Locke used an analogy of a man who wakes up, in bed, in a room.

• The room is locked from the outside which is unknown to him. 

• He chooses to stay in the room and have more rest, believing he has chosen freely to stay there.

• However, in reality, he has no option but to stay in the room - it is only his ignorance of the locked door that gave him an illusion of freedom. 

• In the same way humanity is ignorant of causation (past causes) and that gives them the illusion of freedom. 

What does this mean in terms of responsibility - Philosophical determinism 

• This shows since all our actions are determined, and we have no freewill, we cannot be held responsible for our actions

What is scientific determinism?

• Genetics/biology

• Humanity is not free but is instead determined by their DNA.

What 3 ways is the deterministic effect of DNA seen? - Scientific determinism

The deterministic effect of DNA can be seen in 3 ways:

• Physical appearance 

• Physical and mental capacity 

• Behaviour 

What does this make a person a product of, and what does this mean for behaviour? - Scientific determinism

• Therefore a person is no more than a product of their  genetic make-up. 

• This has a profound implication for moral behaviour  because any effort to change one’s behavioural  patterns is useless because it is out of our control. 

What is Genetic fixity, and what does it show? - Scientific determinism

• Genetic fixity basically states that the genes of parents inevitably determine the characteristics of their children. 

• Therefore our behaviour is determined from the  moment of conception and trying to change it is useless. 

• This shows human behaviour is controlled by an individual’s genes.  

How does Darwin’s theory of evolution support this? - Scientific determinism 

• Darwin’s theory of evolution supports this as characteristics are passed from generation to generation to enable survival of the fittest. 

What does scientific determinism mean for people if it is correct? 

• If the above is correct it could be argued that people can be reduced to no more than genetic robots -  programmed and determined by their DNA. 

• For every physical event there is a physical cause - this includes human actions, and this can be traced back to the Big Bang. 

• Scientific concepts of hard determinism are often known as biological determinism. 

Who argues psychological determinism?

• Psychological determinism is argued by Ivan Pavlov

• Classical conditioning

What is psychological determinism? 

• This approach looks to how we are nurtured/conditioned through repeated experiences.

What did Pavlov study?

• Pavlov studied the digestive process in dogs,  especially the link between salivation and the action of the stomach. 

• He discovered that the two are closely linked - without salivation the stomach doesn’t get the message to  start digesting. 

• He found that external stimuli could affect this process. 

• He rang a metronome/bell every time the dogs were given food and, after a while, they began to salivate with the ringing of the bell without the need to give them food. 

• This is a result of a conditioned reflex - a reflex that is learnt. 

What does this mean for human behaviour? - psychological conditioning

• In the same way human behaviour is conditioned by our surroundings.

• The environment can manipulate, and therefore determine our behaviour.

• Pavlov suggested that all human actions are determined by conditioning - every action we do is just subconsciously repeating, taught, conditioned behaviour and therefore cannot be described as free.

What is the psychological approach to determinism sometimes called? 

• The psychological approach to hard determinism is sometimes called behaviourism. 

What are the strengths of hard determinism?

• Recognises that there are causes to our behaviour, so we can’t just blame people for their actions.

• Case study of Mary bell - murdered 2 young boys

• Bell had been neglected throughout her life, given overdoses by her mother, forced into prostitution and then abandoned.

• Court found her not guilty of murder accepting she had diminished responsibility - locked up for a while then rehabilitated.

• The hard determinism approach has scientific verification to support the argument.

• It recognises that some influences may be out of our control e.g. genetics. 

• Hard determinism is supported by a range of academic disciples e.g. physics, biology, psychology, which all demonstrate cause and effect - universal causation.

• Society does not work without cause and effect e.g. how to raise your children.

• It seems true that there is a prior cause for everything, including our actions and choices, since our behaviour is a product of other causes.

• Humans are arrogant when they believe they are not affected by causal influences especially as cause and effect operates everywhere.

What are the weaknesses of hard determinism?

• People cannot be praised or blamed for their actions.

• Hard determinism removes the principle of moral responsibility - therefore no one can be blamed for any actions.

• For example, a murderer cannot be held morally responsible for their actions or receive any/less punishment.

• Humans are not free to act.

• Hard determinists treat factors that influence a person’s behaviour as a necessary truth.

• They stereotype that those from a particular background, must necessarily behave in a particular way.

• But this is not true as there are examples of people who have changed their lives and proved any predictions wrong.

• It is reductionist.

• The hard determinism theory makes all human beings out to be just complicated machines and a humans uniqueness is taken away.

• May lead to anarchy/breakdown of law and order.

• If determinism is true then all the terrible things that happen in the world are meant to happen - this is very pessimistic.