Preview

Theories Of Hard Determinism

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1138 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Theories Of Hard Determinism
According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, moral responsibility can be view as action that is “worthy of a particular kind of reaction – praise, blame, or something akin to these for having performed it [a moral act],” (Stanford Encyclopedia). Therefore, we have three theories at hand that can explain the true nation of moral responsibility and its relation to human freedom and determinism: libertarianism, hard determinism and compatibilism. However, I believe there is only one theory that would provide the overall best explanation, and that is the view of libertarianism. For this essay, I will begin with the background information needed to understand the complexity of these theories. Then, I will explain why hard determinism is …show more content…
Therefore, the theory of hard determinism agrees with the first and second statement from the previous paragraph. If this is the case, then hard determinism rejects the third statement since they also reject the notion that people have any metaphysical freedom. Accordingly, the view of hard determinism also views that in order to have moral responsibility, people must be able to tap into metaphysical freedom. As a result, the hard determinist is in support of determinism and in rejection of the human freedom in terms of metaphysical. This is not a strong basis for explanation of the true nature of moral responsibility because hard determinism believes that the overall notion of being morally responsibility “is not a human possibility,” since all of the choices we make are based on one’s own personality, values, interests, desires, or motives – which are then the ultimate “products of deterministic causes.” (Lawhead 132). If such a notion were true then determinism is undermining the notion of rationality. This is shown through how the reasoning that all that is possible is the actually given that determinism is the belief in the inevitability of causality. Hence forth, the same cannot be state for the true of moral responsibility since all events out of one’s control, then one cannot be …show more content…
This is then why the theories of hard determinism and compatibilism are weaker in comparison since they both rely on the basis of human freedom being limited to the nonexistent of metaphysical freedom, as well as determinism being accepted. As a result, the essay has provided an outline of the relative concepts applicable to the matters at hand, the reasoning as to why hard determinism and compatibilism are weaker in development, as well as why libertarianism is the best theory to provide the explanation of the true nature of moral responsibility and its relation to human freedom and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    When it comes to determinism and free will, there are two categories which determinists would side with. Either they are a soft or a hard determinist. Determinism is defined as the theory that “everything in the universe..is entirely determined by causal laws, so that whatever happens at any given moment is the effect of some antecedent cause” (Pojman & Fieser, Free Will and Determinism, p. 388). In this essay, I will be reviewing philosopher Baron d'Holbach's arguments against the concept of free will in the perspective of a hard determinist.…

    • 597 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This week’s essay is a comparative analysis of the theories of freedom (indeterminism) and predestination (religious determinism). Our analysis will attempt to prove the superiority of the theory of freedom over the theory of predestination. First, we will examine the theory of predestination as it is explained in the text “Ethics: Theory and Practice” (Thiroux & Krasemann, 2012). The organization of the text lends itself to our analysis since it highlights differences between the two theories in its defining process. We will illustrate the theory of predestination by offering an example which will humanize the theory. Next, we will explore the theory of freedom through the lens of predestination. We will then exhibit the theory of freedom with an example. Finally, we will analyze and compare the two theories by demonstrating their applicability for today’s society and arguing the superiority of the theory of freedom over the theory of predestination.…

    • 868 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hard determinists believe in the theory of universal causation-that is for every physical even, there is a prior physical cause. Benedict Spinoza out it as ‘In the mind there is no absolute or free will; but the mind is determined to will this or that by a cause, which has been determined by another cause, and this last by another cause, and so on until infinity.’ They say that as the universe in governed by laws of nature, with enough information, we could necessitate what will happen and therefore accurately predict everything that will happen in the future. This area of determinism is known as scientific determinism who, in the words Pierre-Simon Laplace, believe that ‘If you know the speed and position of a particle, it would be possible to know their position at any other time’, meaning that you can predict the future by the state of the universe now. Humans are part of the universe and like everything else, are made up of particles and so are governed by the laws of nature. All our actions have a prior cause and choices that…

    • 2062 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The philosopher Roderick Chisholm (1916-1999) used many of arguments to explain how his trusted of determinism was untruthful as well as in what way it is conflicting with freedom. Determinism is everything that happens has a cause or causes that determined it to happen. On the other hand, freedom is significantly more subjective and conveys set of concepts all through metaphysics. Metaphysics is the study of the nature of reality. Throughout the paper, I will clarify freedom as described by Roderick Chisholm and compatibilism as described by Harry Frankfurt and argue that compatibilism is conceivable and obvious theory from Frankfurt’s arguments.…

    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Van Inwagen- it cannot be seriously maintained that we can know by some sort of introspection that we have or that we do not have free will. Even when we empirically study human beings we still do not know! However, if we do have free will, then there is no such thing as moral responsibility. However, since there is such a thing as moral responsibility, there is such a thing as free will. Moreover, since free will is incompatible wth determinism, determinism is false. Therefore they simply…

    • 1181 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    One nature of compatibilism is referred to as classic compatibilism. This means that we’d be acting freely as long as we, without being impeded by any outside force, take a course of action that we personally choose for ourselves. These compatibilists believe that it is the presence of impediments such as “physical restraints, lack of opportunity, duress or coercion, physical or mental impairment, and the like” that would cause us to not act freely (Caruso, 2012). However, this line of reasoning is not accepted by those who support the Consequence Argument. In the simplest terms, this argument states that no one has power over the facts of the past and the laws of nature. Also, no one has power over the fact that the facts of the past and the laws of nature entail every fact of the future (i.e., determinism is true). Because of that, no one has power over the facts of the…

    • 1592 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In a morale decision, there is a struggle between desire and one’s character. One’s character is full of experiences, environment and genes. Going back to the wallet example, libertarianism believes there was freewill upon making the decision. There is an inner act of choice, you are the sole author of the decision, and you could have chosen to return or not to return the wallet. Suppose you decide to return the wallet to your professor, it was your choice to fight off the desire to keep the money.…

    • 643 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Explain Soft Determinism

    • 423 Words
    • 2 Pages

    According to Reading 1407, Soft Determinism is defined as the ability to act freely; actions are considered to be free of will, therefore humans should be held accountable for the consequences of such. Philosophers of soft determinism state that if an individual has voluntarily taken the decision to do something, then such individual is believed to have free will.…

    • 423 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines philosophical determinism as “the belief that all events are caused by things that happened before them and that people have no real ability to make choices or control what happens; a theory or doctrine that acts of the will, occurrences in nature, or social or psychological phenomena are causally determined by preceding events or natural laws; a belief in predestination, the quality or state of being determined” (1). Does this mean that whatever action we make is a choice that doesn’t belong to us, but is rather a result of complex events that surround us? Do people have a right to justify some of their actions, and can be excused due to an idea that they do not act voluntarily?…

    • 1021 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essays on Free Will and Moral Responsibility, Edited by Nick Trakakis and Daniel Cohen This book first published 2008 Cambridge Scholars Publishing 12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2008 by Nick Trakakis and Daniel Cohen and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-84718-867-2, ISBN (13): 9781847188670…

    • 9813 Words
    • 40 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The argument of whether we humans are pre determined to turn out how we are and act the way we do or if we are our own decision makers and have the freedom to choose our paths in life is a long-standing controversy. The ideas of Sartre, Freud, and Darwin are each strong in their own manner, yet Sartre presents the best and most realistic argument as to how we choose our path; we are in control of the things we do and responsible for the decisions we make. Not only this, but also, our decisions have an effect on our peer’s choices, just as theirs affect ours. In this paper, I will argue that Jean-Paul Sartre makes the best argument of the three philosophers in saying we can choose our own path and direction in life because as humans we are consciously aware of what is going on around us and base our decisions on that.…

    • 1388 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Many philosophers have their own unique viewpoints on the subject at hand. Jean-Paul Sartre, a French philosopher, suggests that we, as human beings, experience ourselves as free, so believing in determinism is, at most, an effort to avoid responsibility for ourselves. American philosopher, Harry Frankfurt, proposes that the primary differential feature between human beings and animals is our capability to consider our ambitions and opinions, and form desires and judgments regarding them. Finally, David Hume, a Scottish philosopher, is recognized for offering the utmost leading statement for the compatibilist position of the free will debate. He states that freedom and moral responsibility can be reconciled with determinism.…

    • 107 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Compatibilism

    • 974 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Unlike John Martin Fischer’s semi-compatibilism, I hold that determinism does not rule out all alternative actions encompassing “that we can never do otherwise.” I find the compatibilists definition of freedom convincing enough that I can agree to the thesis that determinism exists and that we are still “free to do otherwise” without being logically inconsistent. As long as some force does not restrain me, I am free to do as I wish. For example, let’s suppose that I’ am incarcerated at your local county jail, I am not free to leave the vicinity, but I’ am still…

    • 974 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    determinist thesis would have no effect on our moral psychology and therefore the common worry that determinism undermines ordinary moral concepts and practices is unwarranted (Strawson, 2003). In addressing the objection that this still does not justify our moral concepts and practices, he says that this misses the point since our moral concepts and practices are intrinsic to our psychology, which is unaffected by determinism. This essay will attempt to argue that Strawson fails to address key issues about his moral psychology which could strengthen the stance of the objector, and that his dismissal of the objection is therefore not fully qualified. The structure of the essay will be as follows: the first section will explain the pessimist worry over the determinist…

    • 1549 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    One of the most important facets of the philosophical study of free will is the idea of responsibility. When, if ever, is an agent responsible for their actions? While there are countless theories and schools of thought that attempt to shed light on this topic, several of which will be discussed here, there is one in particular that has stood out in our course of study thus far. It is the theory of the “Deep Self” and “Sane Deep Self” proposed by Susan Wolf. Of particular interest is this notion of the Sane Deep Self. Wolf argues, and I believe rightfully so, that sanity is a key factor in ultimately determining responsibility. However, as one may assume, this is not the only factor to consider. We will look at both the Deep Self View and the Sane Deep Self view, paying special attention to Wolf's story of the terrible dictator JoJo. Once this has been established, we will move to defend both Wolf's theory of the Sane Deep Self, including but not limited to what she believes is ultimately required of a person to be considered responsible for their own actions.…

    • 2430 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays