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

T4 Determinism and free will

Scientific libertarianism – Dr Angela Sirigu Traditionally science has been used by determinists to illustrate their arguments, e.g. biological determinism, etc. However, recent advancements, particularly in genetics and cognitive neuroscience , potentially support libertarianism.

Specification content Scientific (Angela Sirigu’s research evidence that the brain allows for free will).

Key quote Before, genes predetermined

outcomes. Now everything we do, everything we eat or smoke can affect our gene expression and that of future generations. Epigenetic switches introduces the concept of free will into our idea of genetics. (Jirtle)

The human brain

DRAFT

One such recent development was by Dr Angela Sirigu and her team, in early 2012, at the Cognitive Neuroscience Centre in Bron, France. They found that free will is sited in a part of the brain called the parietal cortex. Sirigu electrically jolted this region of the brain in seven patients, undergoing brain surgery, each of which were awake during surgery, so they could answer questions. They each claimed to feel a desire to move when they were jolted: such as to wiggle their fingers, roll their tongues or move their limbs. Even stronger electrical pulses convinced patients they had actually done these movements, although their bodies remained motionless. Sirigu argues this tells us that the parietal cortex of the brain makes predictions about potential future bodily movements. However, it only sends one specific instruction to another part of the brain, called the premotor cortex. The premotor cortex then returns the outcome of the movement to the parietal cortex. As Sirigu states: ‘You need both systems, the parietal and premotor cortex, to generate intention and check whether this is followed through.’ Therefore, the parietal cortex goes through a variety of possible movements that could be made but selects just one to send to the premotor cortex that then makes the move. Therefore, at some point the parietal cortex ‘wills’ what particular movement to make from a variety of potential options. As Sirigu argues: ‘What it tells us is there are specific brain regions that are involved in the consciousness of your movement.’ Therefore, there is a part of the brain that potentially allows human beings to make a specific decision from several choices. Patrick Haggard, a neuroscientist at University College London says the above experiment, by Sirigu, breaks new ground on the study of volition or will because it pinpoints the specific part of the brain where volition resides. As he states: Sirigu’s experiment is ‘extremely interesting, because up to now it has been very difficult for neuroscientists to deal with the idea of intentions or wishes or will’. Other neuroscientists have also identified possible areas of human free will. Randy Jirtle, a professor of radiation oncology at Duke University, and assistant Robert Waterland, are two such neuroscientists. They found that small changes to a mother’s diet could have a dramatic impact on the gene expression of their baby. What they mean by gene expression is that the ‘Human Genome Project’ may have

Key terms Cognitive neuroscience: scienti c eld that is concerned with the study of the biological processes and neural connections in the brain Parietal cortex of the brain: one of the four major lobes of the cerebral cortex in the brain

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