Critically asses the claim that free will and determinism are compatible
Critically asses the claim that free will and determinism are compatible
To consider the extent to whether free will is compatible with Determinism, you must first think about whether or not we actually possess free will in the first place. A Hard Determinist would say that individuals are not free to act upon anything as it is like a path set up by other natural factors in which we have no control over, this leads to the conclusion that humans are not morally responsible for any action. Any moral decisions we make have causes prior that are uncontrollable. Therefore a Hard Determinist would say that free will and Determinism are not compatible with one another. On the other hand is Libertarianism, with which free will is closely compatible. Philosophers such as Kant, believe that we are completely free meaning that we are morally responsible for every action we take. Between these two extremes stands soft-determinists, such as Hume. These think that most decisions we make are the result of external factors but also we have acted upon free will to make it happen. In fact, they go so far as to say that true freedom requires causation, without this there would be randomness. Therefore free will is completely incompatible with a hard determinist, but a Soft Determinist however would argue that free will must be compatible. So a libertarian approach seems like the most convincing as it implies that we are morally responsible for our actions but takes into account the fact that external factors may have caused this.
Hard determinists say that we have no free will whatsoever and that we have no responsibility in all moral actions taken. But to reward good actions and not to punish bad actions is very contradictory. Science has proven that actions are in fact governed by the laws of nature and other external factors. For hard-determinists humans are objects rather than beings as they are controlled by these external factors. As such, the Hard Determinist position
To consider the extent to whether free will is compatible with Determinism, you must first think about whether or not we actually possess free will in the first place. A Hard Determinist would say that individuals are not free to act upon anything as it is like a path set up by other natural factors in which we have no control over, this leads to the conclusion that humans are not morally responsible for any action. Any moral decisions we make have causes prior that are uncontrollable. Therefore a Hard Determinist would say that free will and Determinism are not compatible with one another. On the other hand is Libertarianism, with which free will is closely compatible. Philosophers such as Kant, believe that we are completely free meaning that we are morally responsible for every action we take. Between these two extremes stands soft-determinists, such as Hume. These think that most decisions we make are the result of external factors but also we have acted upon free will to make it happen. In fact, they go so far as to say that true freedom requires causation, without this there would be randomness. Therefore free will is completely incompatible with a hard determinist, but a Soft Determinist however would argue that free will must be compatible. So a libertarian approach seems like the most convincing as it implies that we are morally responsible for our actions but takes into account the fact that external factors may have caused this.
Hard determinists say that we have no free will whatsoever and that we have no responsibility in all moral actions taken. But to reward good actions and not to punish bad actions is very contradictory. Science has proven that actions are in fact governed by the laws of nature and other external factors. For hard-determinists humans are objects rather than beings as they are controlled by these external factors. As such, the Hard Determinist position