Free Will Vs Determinism
This essay will delve into the philosophical debate between free will and determinism. It will define each concept and explore the arguments and theories supporting both viewpoints. The piece will discuss the implications of this debate in various fields such as psychology, ethics, and law, and how it shapes our understanding of human behavior and responsibility. PapersOwl offers a variety of free essay examples on the topic of Free Will.
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Do people have a choice with how they live their lives or is all of it already determined for them? There has always been a debate in philosophy between free will and determinism . The issue there is whether humans should be thought of as free to choose their actions and the way they live their lives or whether they are determined by forces beyond their control. Then, if life is already determined for people, should people be held responsible for their actions? Free will and determinism are two different concepts that can be used to explain the world around us. Need a custom essay on the same topic? Give us your paper requirements, choose a writer and we’ll deliver the highest-quality essay! Order now
Free will is the ability to choose between different possible courses of action. Free will is the concept of moral responsibility, right, wrong, and other judgments which apply to actions that are freely chosen. It is also connected with the concepts of advice, persuasion. Traditionally, only actions that are freely willed are seen as deserving credit or blame. There are numerous different concerns about threats to the possibility of free will, by how exactly is it conceived. Some conceive free will to be the capacity to make choices in which the outcome has not been determined by past events.
Determinism on the other hand is the belief that all events are determined completely by previously existing causes. The opposite of determinism is some kind of randomness that just happens without any type of plan. Determinism often goes against free will. If determinism is true then events, including moral choices, are completely determined by previously existing causes. So, the question is should people be held responsible for their actions since it was destined to be that way? To answer that I think that if you were determined to do such things then you should also be held responsible for your actions. Being held responsible for your actions plays a role in moral responsibility. Being morally responsible means that you deserve praise, blame, reward, or punishment for what you have done, so it is one’s moral obligation. This can be compatible with this so-called adequate determinism . Moral responsibility requires determinism , so that we could understand the consequences of our actions.
Free will works with God's plan because although he may have a plan for you, it is your decision on how you will live that life and what you will make of it. We are freely able to choose our actions and the choices we make that determine our outcomes. When it comes to making decisions people are able to thwart the will of God because God allowed people to be able to choose their own fate and what is right or wrong. When working through these issues I try to make the best decision and hope the best comes from it. We are able to make those decisions, so it is up to you to make the right one.
Regarding free will and determinism . Free will is a human value and determinism is a life plan. Whether it be free will or determinism , there is always a choice ready to be made and the outcomes come from the choices we make. Free will is a part of our human nature and we are able to go on with life and act in certain situations independently and having a determined life, it is already predicted for you. Free will or determinism , we are able to have some choice in how we act and we are free to choose our behaviour, so we are self determined when it comes down to it.
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Free Will vs Determinism (Debate in Psychology)
Do you believe in free will? Do you freely choose to make all of your decisions?
These are some big questions, and the answers from philosophers and psychologists may upset you. And it won’t help if I tell you that your upset feelings are not something that you chose to feel, either.
But that's the nature of psychology's biggest debate: free will and determinism.
What Is Free Will Vs. Determinism?
Psychologists have spent centuries debating how much control humans have over their thoughts, emotions, and actions. On one side of the spectrum is complete free will; on the other side is a world where everything is determined for us before it happens.
What Is Free Will?
You may have heard the term “free will” before. It comes up quite a bit in the Christian religion - many Christians are taught that God gave them the free will to sin or not to sin. In psychology and philosophy, free will isn’t a gift from God but just how the world operates.
Examples of Free Will
We feel free when we decide to go to the park or buy a new backpack. After all, we had the options of going to the swimming pool or saving our money. Free will is the ability to make a choice when other options are present. Nothing is predetermined. Instead, we create our own destiny and have the power to make any decision at any given time.
Can Free Will and Determinism Coexist?
You may believe that free will cannot exist in a deterministic universe. You may believe that free will and determinism are completely separate and that free will reigns supreme. In this case, you would consider yourself a libertarian free will. (This has nothing to do with the political party.)
However, it’s easy to argue that free will doesn’t really extend beyond human behavior. Certain chemicals will react when they interact with other chemicals - they don’t have the free will to do otherwise. When lightning strikes, thunder doesn’t have the option of taking the day off. All of these physical factors could also limit our choices.
But according to free will, there is a difference between physical causation and agent causation. Not everything is completely random, however, we have the ability to take control (as an agent) and start a new causal chain of events.
As you’ll learn, it’s easy to argue against free will. But there is certainly something to be said for the fact that when we decide to go skateboarding or have breakfast for dinner, we feel like we are in complete control.
But are we?
What Is Determinism?
Now let’s talk about determinism. If free will lives on one end of a spectrum, determinism lives at the completely opposite end. Determinism is the idea that we have no control over our actions. Instead, internal and external factors determine the choices that we make. Our behavior is completely predictable. We have no sense of personal responsibility, because all of our actions are dictated by other things.
Some of the things that cause is to act are external: weather, media, our parents, etc. Some of these things are internal. We’ll go more into that a bit later.
This can make us feel uncomfortable, sure. But start to think about some of the decisions you made in the past week. Were they caused by something before it? Most likely, yes. Maybe you decided not to play baseball because it was raining outside or because you left your cleats at a friend’s house. Or you left a party early because your stomach hurt. You paid rent because you signed a lease because you were taught that it was important to live in a home.
Studies on Determinism in Psychology
The causes of our actions can go all the way back to our childhood. Take Bandura’s Bobo Doll experiment . Children either observed an adult hitting a Bobo doll or being gentle with the Bobo Doll. The children did not choose which adult they would be observing. The children who observed the aggressive adult were more likely to be aggressive. This experiment was one of many that shaped Behaviorism and linked the “cause” of certain actions and behaviors to conditioning. Ivan Pavlov was able to make dogs uncontrollably drool through conditioning. What have we been conditioned to do?
What Causes Determinism?
There are a few factors that you can play around with to pinpoint the causes of your actions and decisions. Some psychologists believe that your actions are caused by a combination of factors, including:
- Temperaments
Let’s use the example of buying a backpack. You believe that a backpack would be a worthy investment and that it is superior to another type of bag. You desire a backpack for yourself after carrying around a ripped bag and seeing everyone at work with nice backpacks. At the time you decide to buy, your temperament is pleasant and you’re in the mood to do some shopping.
A similar theory about our decisions and prompts can be found in Tiny Habits. This book, written by Stanford researcher BJ Fogg, discusses his Behavior Model. He believes behaviors are caused by:
It’s easy to see the similarities between these two.
Different Levels of Determinism
If you’ve been on my page before, you know how powerful beliefs are. You also know that it’s entirely possible to change your beliefs and change the course of your life. Are these changes also pre-determined, or are they something that we can control through free will?
You don’t have to answer that by choosing one end of the spectrum. There are ideas that blend both free will and determinism to form theories that aren’t so extreme.
Soft Determinism
One of these ideas is soft determinism. Soft determinism is the idea that all of our actions are predetermined or self-determined. The difference is that self-determined actions, or actions caused by internal factors, are considered free. If you believe that the choice to knock out limiting beliefs is your choice, then you probably feel more comfortable with the idea of soft determinism.
Compatibilism
The idea that free will and determinism can exist together is called compatibilism. When thinking about our ability to make our own choices versus the choices that are pre-determined for us, compatibilism seems like a feel-good compromise. But it doesn’t always help philosophers and psychologists when thinking about responsibility. When are we responsible for our actions? Can internal factors, like a mental illness or intoxication, free us from responsibility? How does that work when someone chooses to alter these factors? Or did they really make that choice in the first place?
We Don't Have All the Answers
Want to hear more thoughts on free will vs. determinism? Psychologists, philosophers, and even Reddit users continue to weigh into this debate.
Quotes on Free Will and Determinism
- "Man, what are you talking about? Me in chains? You may fetter my leg but my will, not even Zeus himself can overpower.” -Epictetus
- "Though I cannot tell why it was exactly that those stage managers, the Fates, put me down for this shabby part of a whaling voyage, when others were set down for magnificent parts in high tragedies, and short and easy parts in genteel comedies, and jolly parts in faces—though I cannot tell why this was exactly; yet, now that I recall all the circumstances, I think I can see a little into the springs and motives which being cunningly presented to me under various disguises, induced me to set about performing the part I did, besides cajoling me into the delusion that it was a choice resulting from my own unbiased freewill and discriminating judgment.” - Herman Melville, Moby Dick
- "For we do not run to Christ on our feet but by faith; not with the movement of the body, but with the freewill of the heart. Think not that thou art drawn against thy will: the mind can be drawn by love.” - Augustine of Hippo
- "Humans have an amazing capacity to believe in contradictory things. For example, to believe in an omnipotent and benevolent God but somehow excuse Him from all the suffering in the world. Or our ability to believe from the standpoint of law that humans are equal and have free will and from biology that humans are just organic machines." - Yuval Noah Harari
The Debate Continues On Reddit!
Below are just a few thoughts from Reddit users on the entp subreddit!
u/Destrh0 said :
" There is no such thing as actual free will, only a remarkable facsimile of free will. At our core, we are truly unable to make any completely free choice. It is tantamount to being able to make a completely random decision. We aren't even consciously aware of any decision being made until well after it has been made. And anyone with severe PTSD will tell you that they really don't have a choice in a lot of their reactions. Free will is a joke."
They were met with a rebuttal from u/ENTP-one: " I actually thought about it a lot lately. I come up with an thesis that to stop everything being pre descent you have to do something only from the need of changing the path. If your 100% you want to do something not doing it and choosing something that you 100% not wanna do will change the destination. Of course the idea only works if what's predestination does not account for you knowing it and actively doing something just to mess it up. But at the moment you do it the new path is created and again we are stuck in this predestined path."
u/Musikcookie said:
"I believe in both. Humans have this weird conception, that free will would somehow be apart from the world it exits. But what would this even mean? Even apart from our world a free will will have to be based on what happens in this world, so it would still run into the same problems. This is because a free will needs to have some sort of logic to it. If we stop setting unreasonably high bars for what a “free will” has to accomplish, we can see, that our complex ability to change things can pass as a free will."
u/fridge_escaped said:
"I have to do what any self-respecting ENTP would do, when proposed two options: provide a third (albeit popular one). I believe that we have both, but on different scales. From my surface knowledge of statistical mechanics and chaos theory even in completely chaotic environment we can define a trend, which the system follows, but locally its actions could be totally non-deterministic. So we have an option to choose what path to take, but in the end most of this choices lead us to singular ending.
Quick tangent there: we are always "governed by internal or external forces we cannot control" - physics provides tons of examples. I think what matters is what you do in the face of circumstances you cannot change. You can always settle for obvious options and weep "The system is rigged!", or you can try to find/make a way. Isn't it who we are?"
Want to read the whole debate? You can, on Reddit!
There is a lot to unpack when we think about free will and determinism. There is no definite answer that everyone can agree on. But that is why we continue to observe behavior, conduct experiments, and study how humans behave and make choices.
Related posts:
- William Glasser Biography - Contributions To Psychology
- Choice Theory (Definition + Examples)
- The Mind Body Debate in Psychology
- Behavioral Psychology
- Albert Bandura (Biography + Experiments)
Reference this article:
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Free Will vs Determinism
Exploration of the free will vs determinism debate, including a look at compatibilism..
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- Pavlov's Dogs and Classical Conditioning
This question of free will versus determinism is the subject of ongoing debate by psychologists, scientists, theologians and philosophers.
On the one hand, our consciousness gives us the space to contemplate decisions and leads us to believe that we have the free will to make choices . The belief in free will is an ancient one and is fundamental to the concept of biblical original sin - the philosophical idea that humans are able to choose their behavior, including sinning.
However, centuries of scientific developments have taught us that every event can be explained in terms of cause and effect . As thoughts can be reduced to a series of chemical reactions in the brain, they can in theory be understood and predicted in the same way that a chemistry experiment would seek to understand the behavior of chemicals.
The issue of "free will vs determinism" remains significant today as it questions the extent to which we value the unique quality of life and people's ability to exercise free will in decision-making. Moreover, what are the moral implications if free will exists merely as an illusion in our minds and our destinies are predetermined?
In this article we will evaluate the evidence for both free will and determinism and will look at how different branches of psychology approach the debate. We will also look at a compromise which aims to offer an alternative explanation in this polemic argument.
First-hand experience of free will
Our everyday experiences give the impression that we do in fact possess free will. Using your senses, you are consciously aware of your surroundings and are able to make decisions based on what you have observed. This argument for free will appears self-evident based on your perception of yourself and your place in the world. However, to what extent can you rely on your senses and awareness to truly reflect reality?
Let us consider a dream. At the time, the experience may be vivid and might immerse us in the illusion of reality, but when we awake, we realise that we were being deceived into believing that what we experienced was real. This dream argument leads us to question whether our consciousness is giving us the correct impression of reality, and whether we can take our experiential evidence of free will as proof of its existence.
Nonetheless, free will is taken as a truth in modern society. By making the right decisions, we can further ourselves. A wrong decision leads to consequences, most literally in the case of the judicial system, where crimes (except in the case of insanity) are considered an exercise of free will - a person was able to choose either to commit or not to commit the crime.
In spite of factors around us influencing our behavior, as determinism notes, we can still enjoy free will and be aware that environmental factors are influencing, if not dictating, our behavior. For example, in a city, you may pass by countless advertisements. You will be aware that advertisers are trying to influence your buying habits, but will know that you have the free will to either succumb to or to resist these messages.
- Humanistic Approach
In support of this, the U.S. psychologist Carl Rogers developed person-centered therapy - a therapeutic approach which embraces an individual's self-control and ability to choose their own path of recovery using free will.One of the tenets of person-centered therapy is the maintenance of unconditional positive regard for patients without reducing their problems to genetic factors or conditioned behavior, as determinism might.
- Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Whilst these needs are innate influences on our behavior, they are means to achieving happiness , rather than a solely biological motivation for our actions. 1
Determinism
Support for free will among psychologists is, however, limited. As our scientific understanding increases, so the case for determinism against free will strengthens. We observe cause-and-effect in other branches of science - in cellular behavior in biology , chemical reactions in chemistry and similarly in physics, Newton's Laws of Motion state that "every action must have an equal and opposite reaction".
If such empirical branches of study rely on cause-and-effect, which should psychology, which uses similar methodology in experiments and studies, take exception to cause-and-effect? Does free will not contradict our logical, scientific understanding of our world?
Apart from humanistic psychology, most approaches take a deterministic view of behavior. Behavioral psychologists observe stimuli and how it affects our behavior and biological psychology explains our behavior by our genetics and biochemical makeup. Cognitive psychology understands our behavior to be a result of various neurological processes, including thoughts, accepting the nuances of our individual differences rather than the influence of personality and free will on our behavior. In the case of the psychodynamic approach , Sigmund Freud sought to understand our behavior as having been caused by events and relationships earlier in life, rather than our free will at any current moment. Only humanistic approaches stress the control that an individual can exert using their own free will.
Whatsmore, research that reduces behavior has lead to many key studies whose findings have lead to numerous practical applications, not least in the development of medicines.
B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) developed the 'Skinner Box' which showed us how behavior can be influenced through operant conditioning - using positive and negative reinforcements to reward or punish behavior in an effort to affect future behavior. 2
Additionally, Pavlov's dogs demonstrated how classical conditioning could be used to induce salivation - behavior that we do not even have full conscious control over. 3
What affects your ability to make free choices?
When we take reductionism to its full conclusion, we reach chaos theory . This supposes that if were able to observe the position and behavior of all of the irreducible constituent parts of the universe, such as subatomic particles, logic would dictate that we could then accurately predict their behavior in the future and so predict the future. One example of chaos theory is the butterfly effect - the idea that the fluttering of a butterfly's wings can create a minute air disturbance which can contribute to more significant effects, such as a wind and then a hurricane. Whilst full observation of the universe is unimaginable, chaos theory gives a good example of reductionism and how the constituent parts of something can influence the behavior of the whole, such as the effect of individual neurons on brain activity on a larger scale.
Is free will predetermined?
Yet, if we are so consciously sure of our ability to exercise free will, how can determinism override this idea? In some ways, determinism is problematic for us to consciously understand, and presents us with another problem: even if we make choices consciously using free will, what is to say that our free will itself is not predetermined?
A study by Custers and Aarts (2005) noted how many of our actions, which we consider to be of our own volition, are in fact initiated on a subconscious level without us even consciously realising. 4 Kühn and Brass (2009) reinforced this with an experiment comparing the timing of people's reactions to their conscious awareness of them, which again found that we sometimes act before we make a decision consciously. 5 As free will is a product of our consciousness, this casts further doubt on the idea that we exercise it in its purest sense.
Like free will, the deterministic viewpoint is not without its critics. Determinism, for example, reduces human behavior to the factors that cause it, rather than taking into account the spontaneity and individuality of people when they make decisions. The linguist Noam Chomsky has been also highly critical of B.F. Skinner's view that operant conditioning can determine our behavior in relation to language acquisition . Chomsky noted that determinism does not take into account the way in which we innovate when using language in a way that has not been simply taught through conditioning. 6
Finding a middle ground
"Man can indeed do what he wills, but he cannot will what he wills." Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher 7
If empiricists have shown how cause-and-effect supports the case for determinism, yet we hold some degree of control over our actions, can a compromise be found between these two contradictory schools of thought?
One theory which allows free will and determinism to coexists is compatibilism , which insists that the two ideas are compatible simultaneously. Compatibilism claims that a person has moral responsibility over their own actions where they show the intent to carry them out (rather than being influenced by another person), even if this intent is determined.
Whilst compatibilism offers a convenient compromise between the two ideas, it has been rejected by incompatibilists such as the U.S. philosopher William James (1842-1910) as "soft determinism". Incompatibilists reject the idea that free will and determinism can coexist.
The debate between determinism and free will continues without universal agreement. There are elements of truth to each argument, and while our everyday experiences seem to contradict the idea that our behavior is determined, empirical methods insist on some degree of causation. Soft determinism seems to offer an acceptable accommodation of the truths in both arguments.
- Maslow, A.H. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychology Review . 50 (4). 370-396.
- Skinner, B.F. (1959). 'Superstition' in the Pigeon. Journal of Experimental Psychology . 38 (2). 168-172.
- Pavlov, I.P. (1927). Conditioned Reflexes: An investigation of the physiological activity of the cerebral cortex. Retrieved from http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Pavlov/ .
- Custers, R. and Aarts, H. (2005). Positive Affect as Implicit Motivator: On the Nonconscious Operation of Behavioral Goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology . 89 (2). 129-142. Retrieved from http://goallab.nl/publications/documents/Custers,%20Aarts%20(2005)%20-%20positive%20affect%20as%20implicit%20motivator.pdf .
- Kühn, S. and Brass, M. (2009). Retrospective construction of the judgement of free choice. Consciousness and Cognition . 18 (1). 12-21.
- Chomsky, N. (1959). A Review of B. F. Skinner's Verbal Behavior. Language . 35 (1). 26-58. Retrieved from https://chomsky.info/1967____/ .
- Schopenhauer, A. Zoller, G. and Payne E.F.J. (1999). Prize Essay on the Freedom of the Will. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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