WJEC/Eduqas RS for A2/Yr2: Religion and Ethics (DRAFT)

T4 Determinism and free will

This section covers AO1 content and skills

E: Concepts of libertarianism Libertarianism defined

Specification content Philosophical (Jean-Paul Sartre: man is not free not to be free, waiter illustration).

Libertarianism (sometimes called Agency Theory) is the belief that human beings are completely free to act. In terms of making moral decisions, the human being’s personal will, to do a particular action, is a hundred per cent their own. Therefore, agents are morally responsible for their own actions; they are not compelled to act by forces outside their moral consciousness, i.e. moral actions are not chance, caused or random events, they result from the values and character of the human being. However, libertarians concede that human beings are only free to choose within the constraints of physical natural laws. Philosophical Libertarianism – Jean Paul Sartre Philosophical support for libertarianism comes from the French existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980). Sartre’s libertarian beliefs were explicitly stated when he argued: ‘there is no determinism – man is free, man is freedom’. When Sartre spoke about freedom he was not referring to particular cases but rather the distinction between the character of human existence and other forms of existence. He claimed that human beings are unconditionally free regardless of their circumstances and described this aspect of human existence as ‘being for itself’ ( pour-soi ). This was in contrast to ‘being in itself’ ( en-soi ) which refers to things that have no say in what happens to it. It lacks consciousness and its destiny is not its own. Sartre argued that a person is conscious of their own existence, i.e. a self- consciousness. It was this consciousness that enables human beings to have free will. Sartre believed that self-consciousness enables human beings to think about and consider the different possible futures that might come about from different actions. Therefore, human beings can stand back from their own lives and interpret them in different ways. This, according to Sartre, opens up a distance between a person’s consciousness and the physical world, with its potentially determining influences. Sartre refers to this as ‘ the gap ’ and it is this gap that allows human beings to have free will. Therefore, a person is capable of making choices and these make a difference to what happens to them. Their actions are not triggered causally, but are responses to their appraisal of the situations they meet in life and the significance they see in things. Sartre further argued that ‘there is no God, so man must rely upon his own fallible will and moral insight. He cannot escape choosing.’ In other words, because there is no God there is no higher power controlling human beings. Therefore, humankind is condemned to freedom, i.e. they have no choice but to embrace freedom. The irony of this was not lost on Sartre when he argued humankind is totally free to make decisions with one exception: ‘man is not free not to be free’. Novelist Isaac B. Singer had the same idea when he stated: ‘We must believe in free will, we have no choice.’ According to Sartre, humankind’s freedom is obvious because of the way they go about trying to deny their own freedom. He believed freedom can bring pain and anguish; and therefore, people try to avoid the reality of their own freedom. Key quote Freedom is the being of man. (Sartre)

4.21 Libertarians accept that human behaviour is still constrained by what?

DRAFT

French existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre

Key terms En-soi: animals are unable to grasp their own free will because they are ‘beings in themselves’, i.e. they have no self-consciousness Pour-soi: human ability to grasp free will because human beings are ‘beings for themselves’, i.e. they have possession of a self-consciousness The gap: the distance between a person’s consciousness and the physical world, with its potentially determining in uences; it is this gap that allows people to have free will

Key quote Man is condemned to be free;

because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does. (Sartre)

4.22 Give two ways in which ‘being in itself’ differs from ‘being for itself’.

127