Free Will key terms (AQA)

Hard determinism

Belief that people do not have free will to act in normal actions and that all moral actions have uncontrollable prior causes

Determinism

Belief that choices are influenced by factors other than the will of the individual

Libertarianism

Belief that humans are free to make moral choices and are therefore morally responsible

Liberty

Freedom

Moral responsibility

Our blame worthiness or praiseworthiness for actions

Predestination

Belief that God has decided who will and will not enter heaven

Compatibilism

Belief that some actions are determined but we still have moral responsibility

Physical determinism

Were made of matter which obeys the laws of physics such as gravity

Biological determinism

Our characters are determined by our genes

Scientific determinism

Science tells us for every physical event there is a physical cause

Philosophical determinism

Belief that everything in the universe has a cause

Psychological determinism

Nature - nurture, human behaviour is determined by internal mental processes

Theological (divine) determinism

Belief that the casual chain can be traced back to an uncaused causer and this is God