free will vs determinism

free will

the principle that as humans we’re free to choose our thoughts and actions – we’re self-determining.  

implies that we’re able to reject the internal and external forces that act on us, and are in control of our behaviour and emotions – we're masters of our own destiny. 

The humanistic approach fully advocates the idea of free will. 

AO3 - strength of free will

Research suggests that people who have an internal LOC are more mentally healthy than those with an external LOC. 

This suggests that even if we don’t have free will the fact that we think we do has a positive impact on our mind and behaviour.  

AO3 - limitation of free will

Neurological studies have revealed evidence against free will.

Research by Libet (1985) -> the activity related to whether to press a button with the left or right hand occurs in the brain milliseconds before pps report being consciously aware of having made the decision.

This suggests that our most basic experiences of free will are decided and determined by our brain before we become aware of them. 

determinism

- The principle that all behaviour comes from either internal or external causes. 
- There is no free will
- Determinism is associated with a more scientific approach.
- There are hard and soft versions of determinism. 
- 3 types of determinism: bio, environmental, and psychic. 

AO3 - strength of determinism

The prediction of behaviour from deterministic research has led to the development and treatment of drugs, as well as therapies and behaviour interventions that have benefitted many.

E.g. SSRIs as a biological drug treatment for OCD. 

hard determinism

- Every human action has a cause – it should be possible to identify and describe these causes. 
- This belief is compatible with the aims of science. 
- assumes everything we do is dictated by internal and external forces that we can’t control. 
- Behaviourists are strong believers in hard determinism. Skinner -> concepts like “free will” and “motivation” are illusions that disguise the real causes of human behaviour. All behaviour is the response to prior conditions and to reinforcement and punishment. 

AO3 - limitation of determinism

- Hard determinism contradicts the way the legal system works in the UK.
- It’s assumed that offenders are morally responsible for their behaviour as they acted of their own free will.
- If it’s accepted that no-one is responsible for their own actions the legal consequences could be very damaging to society.

soft determinism

- whilst acknowledging that all behaviour has a cause, argues that there’s room for manoeuvre in that people have conscious mental control over the way they behave. 
- e.g. being poor doesn’t make someone steal, but it may make them more likely to take that route through desperation.
- suggests that some behaviours are more constrained than others and there’s an element of free will in all behaviour. 

biological determinism

- Evolutionary explanations. 
- Basal ganglia communicate with prefrontal cortex.
- Behaviour that’s determined by biological factors inside oneself, e.g. inherited behaviours, evolutionary explanations, neural mechanisms, hormones, etc. 

It can be argued that OCD is biologically determined. Firstly, it is highly unlikely that anyone would choose to have OCD, as it’s such a harmful and stressful condition, thereby removing the explanation of free will. There’s also evidence that OCD has a strong genetic component, as twin studies show it’s more common in MZ than DZ twins. Also, a number of neural mechanisms have been linked to OCD such as too much of the neurotransmitter serotonin, as well as neural structures such as the basal ganglia, the orbital frontal cortex, and the thalamus.  

environmental determinism

Behaviour is shaped by environmental events as well as agents of socialisation, e.g. parents, teachers, institutions, etc. 

Behaviourists, e.g. Skinner, believed in environmental determinism. 

It can be argued that academic success is environmentally determined as the reasons a student might perform well in school could be due to parent support, e.g. by parents reading to their children and/or making their children read before starting school and whilst they’re in early primary school. 

psychic determinism

Behaviour is shaped by unconscious forces we can’t control. For Freud, these were created by biological drives (e.g. id and superego) and buried in childhood experiences. 

It can be argued that smoking is psychically determined. E.g. according to Freud, the action of smoking is as a result of that individual being stuck at the oral stage of the psychosexual stages. Freud would argue that smoking is due to incomplete satisfaction in the childhood experience of the oral stage.