Free Will

• The idea that as human beings we are free to choose our thoughts and actions
• This does not deny the idea that there may be biological and environmental factors but says that we are able to reject these forces

Determinism

Hard Determinism

• Suggests that all human behaviour is caused by factors outside of our control
• All human behaviour has a cause that can be identified
• This is in line with the aims of science:
  • To find casual laws that govern thought and action
  • To assume that everything we think and do is dictate by internal/external forces that we cannot control

Soft Determinism

• Soft determinists also acknowledge that all human action has a cause
• However, they also suggest that there is some flexibility - i.e., People have conscious mental control over the way they behave
• So there are scientific causes that determine our behaviour but we also have freedom to make rational conscious choices in everyday situations

Biological Determinism

• The biological approach emphasises the role of biological determinism in behaviour
• Modern biopsychologists do admit that environment also influences our biological structures but this simply means we are ‘doubly-determined’ in ways we can’t control

Environmental Determinism

• Skinner famously described free will as ‘an illusion’ and argued that all behaviour is the result of conditining
• Environmental determinism is the result of conditioning
• Environmental determinism argues that although we might think we are acting independently, our behaviour has been shaped by environmental events
• It also suggests our behaviour is shaped by the people around us influencing us, e.g., Parents, teachers, etc.

Psychic Determinism

• Psychic determinism sees human behaviour as determined and directed by unconscious conflicts repressed in childhood
• Freud also claimed that free will is ‘an illusion’ but placed emphasis on the influence of biological drives and instincts