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

T4 Determinism and free will

Another line of argument that an individual has free choice comes the psychological concept of libertarianism. This is because Humanist psychologists suggest that human beings can have free will. One such Humanist psychology supporter is Carl Rogers. Rogers argues human beings do have the ability to achieve free will; through the process of ‘self-actualisation’. Self- actualisation involves getting in touch with our real feelings and acting on them. However, a counter to this could be that Rogers does not prove the concept of libertarianism. This is because Rogers admits that a human being is conditioned from an early age. Therefore, human beings that do not self- actualise, will remain in a psychologically determined condition. Moreover, behaviourist psychologists, like Ivan Pavlov, Watson and Skinner would argue that the determining effects of conditioning cannot be broken.

Pavlov demonstrated psychological conditioning by his famous experiment with dogs.

The extent to which philosophical, scientific and/or psychological views on libertarianism inevitably lead people to accept libertarianism This issue is asking candidates to consider whether one, or more, of the libertarian arguments they have studied (philosophical, scientific and/or psychological) successfully illustrate that libertarianism is correct, i.e. that it is clear to people that they have free will. Similar arguments can be used from the above discussion but not the religious arguments. One line of argument that an individual has free choice is illustrated in the work of 20th-century philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre. Sartre argued that there is no God, therefore man is condemned to freedom. Sartre supported his argument by claiming man’s freedom is obvious because of the way human beings go about trying to deny it. Therefore, human beings create a self-deception of determinism called ‘bad faith’; however, for Sartre these attempts for human beings to escape freedom are an absolute sign that human beings have free will. Therefore, the above philosophical view could inevitably lead people to accept libertarianism. A counter to the above line of enquiry is from the work of philosopher John Locke. Locke argued that human beings believe they have the free will to make decisions because they can pause and reflect before making a choice. However, Locke believed that all such thoughts were just people’s ignorance; most agents do not have the intelligence to see that actually there are no choices at all to be made. Therefore, the above philosophical view could lead people not to accept libertarianism. Another line of argument that an individual has free choice comes the scientific concept of libertarianism. This is because recent developments in neuroscience suggest human beings do have a free will part of the brain. One example of such a

Specification content The extent to which philosophical, scientific and/or psychological views on libertarianism inevitably lead people to accept libertarianism.

DRAFT

AO2 Activity As you read through this section try to do the following: 1. Pick out the different lines of argument that are presented in the text and identify any evidence given in support. 2. For each line of argument try to evaluate whether or not you think this is strong or weak. 3. Think of any questions you may wish to raise in response to the arguments. This Activity will help you to start thinking critically about what you read and help you to evaluate the effectiveness of different arguments and from this develop your own observations, opinions and points of view that will help with any conclusions that you make in your answers to the AO2 questions that arise.

study comes from researcher Dr Sirigu. Sirigu found that free will resides in the parietal cortex of the human brain. She argued that this part of the brain contains ‘free floating / random DNA’ that could point to why human beings have free will. Therefore, the above scientific view could inevitably lead people to accept libertarianism.

Locke’s example of a locked room

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