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

WJEC / Eduqas Religious Studies for A Level Year 2 and A2 Religion and Ethics Specification content Strengths and weaknesses of hard and/or soft determinism. Key quotes A random event does not fit the concept of free will any more than a lawful one does, and could not serve as the long-sought locus of moral responsibility. (Pinker) Nothing comes to me from the past that is not chosen by me. We do not receive our past … One has to be one’s past, to live it – now. (Sartre)

Strengths and weaknesses of hard and/or soft determinism This issue is asking us to consider whether hard and/or soft determinism are good arguments to illustrate what they are trying to assert, i.e. hard determinism illustrating people have no free will and soft determinism that people only have partial free will. Many of the arguments for the previous discussion can also be used for this discussion and the answer could approach the above issue from several lines of argument. One line of argument could be that determinism has strengths because it has philosophical support. This could be illustrated from the work of 17th-century philosopher John Locke. Locke developed a philosophical determinism theory based on universal causation. This is the belief that all human actions and choices have a past cause. Leading to the conclusion that all events that happen are determined by an unbreakable chain of past causes. Therefore, if this view is correct, then the future must logically be as fixed and unchangeable as the past; further support comes fromWilliam James. However, just because some events are clearly determined does not justify the widespread belief in an absolute universal determinism. Indeed, modern science casts some doubt about such confidence in causation and predictability. The development of quantum mechanics and indeterminism has challenged the traditional understanding of Newtonian views about cause and effect and predictability. This weakens the argument from causation, which is one of the determinists’ main arguments. However, to argue that there are no causes or to suggest actions are random or chaotic is not what is meant by free will. Some may argue that the unpredictability is only at quantum levels and so does not affect actions of human beings. But the issue of the initial commencement of the chain of cause and effect remains a problem for the determinist. If 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. If it is God then the debate moves into considerations of predestination and God’s omnipotence. Sartre claimed people create a self-deception of determinism, called ‘bad faith’. He argued that there is no God and a person does not have a fixed nature. A person’s actions are not triggered causally, they are responses to the significance they see in things in the light of their wishes, projects and commitments. Therefore man is condemned to freedom. Another line of argument is the logical argument that states that if free will is an illusion and everything is causally determined then the ultimate cause why a person believes that free will is an illusion must itself be causally determined. Therefore, there can be no way of knowing whether free will is true or false. Perhaps the most serious weakness of determinism concerns moral responsibility. If we cannot act in a different way then, it is difficult to argue that we can be held morally responsible for our actions. They could not have been otherwise. However, its weakness may be mitigated by the counter-argument that in some sense, human beings do choose and deliberate, but only in a way that obeys natural laws. Indeed, the chain of events behind a particular cause may go back to uncaused creative events in our mind during deliberations. Also, a person’s behaviour may be modified through punishment since it can be a deterrent and become a part of the causal chain. Another line of argument that could illustrate a strength of hard determinism is that it has support from scientific determinism. One such scientific argument revolves around human DNA. Scientists claim that DNA illustrates all humans

DRAFT

Jean-Paul Sartre

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.

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