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

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

Issues for analysis and evaluation The extent to which philosophical, scientific and/or psychological determinism illustrate that humanity has no free will This issue is asking us to consider whether the hard determinist arguments studied, successfully illustrate that hard determinism is correct; namely, that humanity has no free will. An answer to this could approach the above issue from several lines of argument. One line of argument in support would be the philosophical concept of hard determinism that clearly illustrates that humanity has no free will. The work of 17th-century philosopher John Locke would be a good example to use. Locke developed a philosophical determinism theory based on universal causation. He concluded that ‘free will is just an illusion’. However, a counter to this could be that Locke does not, with the above argument, prove the concept of hard determinism and that humanity has no free will. This is because Locke is actually only stating that libertarianism is just an ignorant illusion; therefore, he is merely speculating that hard determinism must be the only correct alternative. Moreover, Locke’s philosophical argument could be further weakened by the work of the 20th-century philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre. Sartre claimed that a person’s freedom is obvious because of the way people go about trying to deny it. He argued that people create a self-deception of determinism, called ‘bad faith’. For Sartre these attempts of people to escape freedom are a clear sign that we do have free will. Another line of argument to challenge philosophical determinism would be to argue that determinism is self-refuting. If free will is an illusion and everything is predetermined, then the ultimate cause why a person believes that free will is an illusion must also be predetermined. Therefore, there can be no way of knowing whether free will is true or false. Another difficulty with determinism is that it cannot account for the commencement of activity, given that the fundamental premise of determinism is that all activity is the effect of prior activity. It is not clear what can be said to be prior to the commencement of activity. A further problem with determinism is that it leads to the idea of morality being totally incoherent, even if God predetermines actions. Morality is a vacuous concept since to be morally responsible the person must have involved some choice that was genuine choice. An automated robot cannot be classed as a moral being. It is programmed and so cannot act in a different way. However, others may argue that in some sense, human beings do choose and deliberate, but only in a way

This section covers AO2 content and skills

Specification content The extent to which philosophical, scientific and/or psychological determinism illustrate that humanity has no free will.

Key quotes If my mental processes are

determined wholly by the motions of atoms in my brain, I have no reason to suppose that my beliefs are true … and hence I have no reason for supposing my brain to be composed of atoms. (Haldane) All events in the physical world have causes except those subatomic events falling within the realm of quantum mechanics (O’Connor)

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.

that obeys natural laws. Indeed, determinism allows for opportunity to modify a person’s behaviour through punishment since it can be a deterrent and become a part of the causal chain. Another line of argument could be that scientific determinism clearly illustrates humanity has no free will. One scientific theory that would support this is human DNA. Scientists claim that DNA illustrates all humans have a fixed scientific formula. Therefore, people are no more than genetic robots; programmed, and thus determined by

Recent developments in neuroscience suggest moral agents do have a free will part of the brain.

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