Freedom-Determinism Debate - 1726 Words

The controversy between freewill and determinism has been argued about for years. Freewill is defined as the belief that our behaviour is under our own control and do not act in response to any internal or external factors. Freewill has been found to have four different conditions and to have freewill at least two conditions must be obtained, these are; people have a choice on their actions, have not been coerced by anything or anyone, have full voluntary and deliberate control of what they do. One example of freewill in psychology is Humanism. The humanists are in favour of freewill as they believe that humans arent ever determined to behave in a certain way. According to Maslow (1950) we all strive for self-actualisation, which is†¦show more content†¦For example, Skinner (1938) argues that since people are the result of their conditioning, and will get conditioned by their upbringing and environments anyway, we should control peoples upbringing and environments as much as possible to ensure that their conditioning is positive. He suggested that positive and negative reinforcement should be applied to this task. Unlike Skinner, Lorenz (1963) says that unconscious forces determine our behaviour. These forces are built into human nature by evolution. However these forces are quite unpleasant. For example, Lorenz holds that aggression and territoriality and sexual competition are innate instinctive drives. Hence, we are destined to want unconsciously to dominate others by violence, whether we consciously want to or not. Similarly Freuds psychoanalytic theory of personality in the psychodynamic approach, suggests that adult behaviour is determined by innate drives and early experiences. This gives support to the view that our behaviour can be determined, however has little empirical support as its based mainly on case studies. Biological approach is genetic deterministic. Its been found that there is some genetic link to schizophrenia and depressions, meaning the genes are determining the future of the individual. This has consequences such as maybe a prenatal test in the future could determine whether an unborn child has the schizophrenia gene. Research into the human genome is producing increasingShow MoreRelatedEssay on Freedom-Determinism debate1689 Words   |  7 PagesFreedom-Determinism Debate The controversy between freewill and determinism has been argued about for years. Freewill is defined as the belief that our behaviour is under our own control and do not act in response to any internal or external factors. Freewill has been found to have four different conditions and to have freewill at least two conditions must be obtained, these are; people have a choice on their actions, have not been coerced by anything or anyone, have full voluntary and deliberateRead MoreFilm Analysis of Minority Report Essay968 Words   |  4 Pagestraditional view of man, what distinguishes him from animals is his freedom to choose between one course of action and another, his freedom to seek good and avoid evil. The animal has no freedom, but is determined by physical and biological laws; like a machine, the animal responds whenever the appropriate stimulus is present† (Bolles 1963, p.182). In Minority Report (2002) one of the main issues is free will versus determinism. Is there s ome point that people can and do change their mind whileRead MoreAnalysis Of The Philosophical Concepts Of Determinism And Free Will1711 Words   |  7 Pagesof action.The debate and arguments that surround free will have occupied philosophers for many centuries. Many scholars believe that the concept of free will is connected to the concept of responsibility, guilt, sin and other judgments that apply to the actions that are freely chosen by people. Other philosophers also link free will to the concept of persuasion, prohibition and advice that make no point unless different possible results arise from the courses of action. Determinism, on the otherRead MoreCompatibilism vs. Imcompatibilism: Is There Really Free Will1043 Words   |  5 Pages　　Compatibilists and Incompatibilists debate determinism and free will. Determinism is the idea that our actions are determined by past events. In other words, in our present state we do not have control over our actions and th ey are pre-determined. Only one thing can happen given a certain condition and nothing else can occur. Determinism seems to pose a problem because it tests the possibility that we do not have free will or control over our actions because with certain conditions there can onlyRead MoreThe Basic Theories Of The Free Will1095 Words   |  5 Pagesmake. When viewing perspective we can decided that ultimately what around can shape us to do good or bad. This question ultimately leads us to an overwhelming question when it comes to the freedom we have in life and if we truly are free to choose. There are three basic theories involved in the free will debate. Determined being the first one all our choices are caused by preexisting events. Determination is based that free will that humans can t even act otherwise based on predetermined decisionRead MoreThe Case Of The Unwilling Addict1479 Words   |  6 Pagesbolster this case, I will argue for the Principle of Alternative Possibilities by re-evaluating Frankfurt’s case of the Unwilling Addict. I will then refute the notion of determinism by referring to Wolf’s JoJo example by taking a compatibilist approach. In 1971, Harry Frankfurt wrote his second most influential paper on free-will. Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person asks; what is it to be a person? In Frankfurt’s view, one essential difference between persons and non-human animals is to beRead MoreWilliam James on Free Will1537 Words   |  7 Pagesphilosophy and psychology (in which he officiated as a formal study through lectures) (Goodman, 2009). As did many philosophers, Jamesian thinking seeded many discussions on various philosophical topics such as metaphysics, morality, free will-determinism, religion and the afterlife; however, what truly made his ideas notable was his uncanny ability to borrow and integrate knowledge from branches of physiology, psychology and philosophy to weave new insights and dimensions onto traditional philosophicalRead MoreDavid Hume s Theory Of Free Will1559 Words   |  7 Pagesthinkers. Hard determinism bases its viewpoint on the strict theory of causality, rejecting the idea of free will. On the contrary, Libertarianism opposes this, supporting the concept of free will and denying that a deterministic universe exists. Both of these arguments adhere to incompatibilism as they refute the coexistence of both notions. Subsequently, 18th century Scottish philosopher David Hume (1748) procured his influential proposal of compatibilism, attempting to resolve the debate as he arguesRead MoreDeterminism Vs. Free Will1341 Words   |  6 PagesDeterminism is a doctrine suggesting that for every event there exist conditions that could cause no alternative event. Free will is a philosophical term describing a particular sort of capacity of rational agents to choose a course of action from among various alternatives. Understandably, the dichotomy between these two concepts is a topic philosophers have debated over for many years. As a result of these debates, a number of alternative philosophical perspectives arguing for the existence ofRead More oundation or Indivi dual in a Determinate Universe1627 Words   |  7 Pagesof compatibility of determinism and the freedom of human choice. This problem becomes apparently an isoluble paradox if one admits that the notion of freedom of human choice includes negation of the predetermination of decisions taken. Denial of such an inclusion is based on an analysis of the reasons that have led to the notion of freedom of human choice. Basically, this notion is intimately linked with the actual mechanism of decision-making. However, the concept of freedom of human choice is