Determinism

Sociology 107 Winter February 15, 2015 Discussion Prompt #5 Using your own words and not using quotes from the book or any other source, describe what biological determinism means. Next, describe what social determinism means. Lastly, describe which of these you think does the best job of describing people’s actions. Biological determinism is the idea that all human behavior is determined by our biology (genetic make-up) or in relation to it as opposed to social or environmental factors. It…

act of free will states that if you would have decided to make a different choice, you would have made a different choice. This condition for free will addresses the determinism theory (everything that happens can be predicted if you know every nuance of the laws that govern the universe). Ayer believes in both free will and determinism, and this part of his definition of free will eliminates the apparent conflict between the two theories. Just because all of your…

The debate of Free Will v Determinism is one that has gone on for centuries, and shall continue to go on for many to come. There are many who believe that their view is the end all, be all, correct view to hold. While not all of these thinkers are correct in their standings, Paul Holbach’s essay, “The Illusion of Free Will,” lays out a strong argument for universal determinism; man does not have any free will, and all of his actions are determined by the laws of nature. His argument is one that…

There seems to be an incompatibility between our belief in human autonomy and the principle of causality. Free will is the philosophical doctrine that denies determinism is true, that some of our choices are uncaused. Free will is the result of the absence of conditions, causes, and other necessary determinants of behaviour or choice. Neither mental nor physical events are determined by past events. Thomas Hobbes offered his account of freedom by suggesting that external impediments are not…

or not true growth and change are attainable. Through flashbacks, Baldwin reveals the main characters’ actions are merely products of their respective pasts. That is, these characters are shown to suggest an overarching sense of determinism plagues humanity—a determinism in which all actions can be traced to a cause and effect, where all causes are the effects of previous causes. To put it simply, lives are predetermined by the circumstances around them in both the past and at present. However,…

not think we have free will. The basic summary of his argument is for hard determinism. Hard determinism is a view on free will which holds that determinism is true, and that it is incompatible with free will, and, therefore, that free will does not exist. Determinism says the doctrine that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes external to the will. Some philosophers have taken determinism to imply that individual human beings have no free will and cannot be…

In Daniel C. Dennett’s Freedom Evolves, he takes a compatibilist view of determinism. Dennett’s work evolves around the individual’s ability to function within a deterministic universe while still maintaining some form of free will. This universe is largely deterministic, and human lives are most likely predetermined by an unbroken chain of parental influence since the dawn of complex life. Humanity, however has the privilege of being able to make their own choices, although the concept of true…

the future is already set and no one knows what will happen until the time comes and that is called hard determinism. Hard determinism is a theory that human behavior and actions are determined by external factors, and therefore humans do not have genuine free will or ethical accountability. Hard determinism contains two powerful objections, but is capable of being on it’s own. Hard determinism argues that every event results from prior causes and because human thoughts…

Ordinary and Constrained Actions Alfred Jules Ayer is one of the many philosophers throughout history who have attempted to analyze the concept of free will. He believed that free will is prominent within humans and that it is compatible with determinism. This compatibility stems from the idea that free will should be relative to constraint rather than causation, which free will is more often considered relative to. Ayer successfully defends his claims about free will by first breaking down the…

Determinism is a philosophical idea that attempts to place all events that occur as inevitable as they are predetermined by previous events and the laws of nature. However there are many who came to be known as indeterminists who reject the notion that free will is absent from the process that causes events to occur. Indeterminists believe that there are possible events that have different probabilities of occurring based on human beings free will. Then Chisholm’s view of the agent-casual theory…