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

WJEC / Eduqas Religious Studies for A Level Year 2 and A2 Religion and Ethics

determinists’, argue this should be extended further, by stating that human behaviour is also determined by our genes. Therefore, a person’s behaviour is no more than his or her genetic makeup, and any effort to change these behavioural patterns is useless. Biological determinist Daniel Dennett (b1942) called this idea ‘genetic fixity’. The theory of genetic fixity basically states that the genes of parents inevitably determine the characteristics of their children. Therefore, a child’s characteristics, and thus behaviour, is determined at the moment of conception. Genetic fixity received a boost from the Human Genome Project (1990–2003) which attempted to map the genes of the human genome. Some of the findings of the project were seen to support genetic fixity. For example: Addiction Although scientists concede that addiction is not caused by one particular gene, multiple genes can cause addiction. For example, a particular gene can make one person feel sick in response to a particular stimulus (such as a drug) but cause another person to feel happy to the same stimuli, making it harder for the second person to give up the stimulus; thus, increasing his or her risk of addiction. Another particular gene may make one person have an adrenaline rush in a response to a perceived risk but another person may simply feel fear. In this case the former person is at greater risk of addiction, etc. Therefore, whether a person is an addict could purely be determined by his or her genes. Homosexuality A recent study carried out by Doctor Tuck Ngun on 47 pairs of identical twins found that nine small regions of the human genetic code played a key role in deciding whether a person is heterosexual or homosexual. Indeed, so confident with their findings, Dr Ngun’s team predicted it was possible to carry out a DNA test on a baby to predict their sexual orientation with 70% accuracy. The implications of genetics for hard determinism can be seen as extensive. At the extremes, people can be reduced to no more than genetic robots; programmed and determined by their DNA. This is sometimes referred to as ‘puppet determinism’ because metaphorically people just act on the strings of their DNA. According to genetic researcher Christiane Nusslein-Volhard, who won a Nobel Prize for her research on genetics, ‘in the fertilised egg, the genetic program is complete’. This implies that a person’s programmed life is decided at conception. An illustration of how a person’s genetics are being used to illustrate hard determinism came in 2005, in Hall County, Georgia. Stephen Mobley tried to avoid execution by claiming that his murder of a Domino’s pizza store manager was the result of a mutation in a specific gene, i.e. the Monoamine Oxidase A gene (MAOA). In the end, the judge turned down the appeal, saying that the law was not ready to accept such evidence. However, the basic idea that the MAOA gene is a determining cause of violence has now become widely accepted, and it is now commonly called the ‘warrior gene’. Psychological determinism (Ivan Pavlov – classical conditioning) Psychological determinism is associated with the psychological school of thought of behaviourism . An early behaviourist concept of determinism was classical conditioning (also known as reflex conditioning). Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936), a Russian psychologist, is most famously connected with classical conditioning. His work on classical conditioning is associated with the work he did with dogs. This experimentation is often referred to as ‘Pavlov’s Dogs’. It found that the normal reaction of a dog to food was to produce saliva. Pavlov called this an unconditioned reflex, i.e. a dog does not need to learn to salivate in the presence of food. It is just a normal biological reaction. A bell was rung every

Does DNA really support the idea of ‘puppet determinism’?

Key quote This is the first example of a predictive model for sexual orientation based on genetic markers. (Ngun)

Key terms Behaviourism: also known as behavioural psychology, is a theory of learning based on the idea that all behaviours are acquired through conditioning Conditioning: a theory that the reaction to an object or event by a person can be determined by stimuli Human Genome Project: an international scienti c research project with the goal of determining the sequences that make up human DNA, and of identifying and mapping all of the genes of the human genome from both a physical and a functional standpoint

DRAFT

4.6 Explain how your DNA determines your actions.

Specification content Hard determinism: psychological (Ivan Pavlov – classical conditioning).

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