1
May 22
5. Free will and moral responsibility
Moral responsibility:
A free human agent is needed to be morally responsible.
Machines are not morally responsible – the responsibility lies with the conscious agent who
programmed them.
Non-human animals are not morally responsible.
Need a free human agent who can distinguish right from wrong (excludes babies/young children,
the mentally ill, and those under extreme pressure).
Have to consider the content of someone’s moral awareness (e.g., if they have not learnt what
good is or cannot understand it, they cannot be morally responsible).
Sources of moral awareness:
Innate moral sense – “faculty of sympathy” (Hume).
Society – varies cross-culturally over time, therefore raises questions about whether there should
be moral absolutes globally.
Religion – defines the way of life and follows fundamental moral principles. Religious people
encounter good from all three sources.
Determinism:
Epicurus believed that everything was determined, as the world consists of atoms – entirely physical –
therefore we have no freedom of choice.
Determinism: all events and states of affairs are the necessary consequence of previous states of affairs.
Hard determinism = there is no free will due to universal causation (everything has a cause).
Every decision is an event in a chain of causes and effects.
Therefore, there are no ethical choices (and no moral responsibility), as they are all determined –
merely events in the brain.
Reductionism: to understand something complex, it must be reduced to its smallest component parts
I.e., biology is determined by chemistry, which is determined by physics. Therefore, physics
determines everything, including our actions.
What appears complex is actually the cumulative effects of small actions (brain is electrical
impulses, therefore our actions are merely the result of these).
Spinoza: the feeling of freedom is merely ignorance
We are ignorant to all the causes operating on us, thus considering ourselves to be free.
If we knew/considered everything that had happened to us, we would understand that our
choices are determined.
Therefore, (apparent) freedom is due to the limited nature of human awareness – we experience
the process of cause and effect as free will.
Scientific determinism:
Causal determinism = there has been a complete sequence of cause and effect since the big bang
– an omnipotent mind would be aware of every part of this sequence and be able to reverse the
process/trace something back to its origin (unlike the limited human mind).
o LaPlace: the present state of the universe is the effect of its previous state and the cause
of the one to follow (chain of causality) – there are no gaps in this chain for mental
input/free will.
, 2
May 22
Every event is determined by physics. This means that the future is also determined.
Brain = physical (thoughts are merely electrical impulses); everything we call human can be
explained by science.
Avoidance of scientific determinism:
1. If the laws of nature are probabilistic, scientific determinism is not true.
o LoN are based on the current state of affairs and are subject to change with new
evidence.
2. If the quantum world is indeterminate (i.e., there are entities that are not governed by LoN),
scientific determinism is not true.
o Copenhagen interpretation of quantum theory states that laws of quantum world are
indeterministic and probabilistic, suggesting that not everything is determined.
Psychological determinism:
Skinner: all behaviour is a product of genetic and environmental conditions – all human actions
depend on the consequences of previous ones (i.e., conditioning). Link to Pavlov (classical
conditioning).
If an action has a negative consequence it will be avoided, and if it has a positive one it will be
repeated (operant conditioning).
Skinner was a ‘radical behaviourist’, denying the existence of internal psychological states and of
free will (“free will is an illusion”).
EVALUATION:
- Applies animal behaviour to explain human behaviour – humans are rational therefore different.
- If all behaviour is a conditioned response, surely his theory is too, raising questions about its value.
Theological determinism: causal chain can be traced back to an uncaused causer (God)
If God is omnipotent and omniscient, our actions must be determined.
1. Calvin – hard determinism
o Predestination = there is nothing anyone can do to change their fate.
o 5% of the human race are destined for salvation. God’s justice is beyond human
understanding, so this should not be questioned.
o Therefore, there is no free will.
2. St Augustine – soft determinism
o The human will is too corrupt after the fall to perform a good action without the grace of
God.
o Predestination = only those elected by God can reach salvation.
o We can make free choices, but God has foreknowledge of these. We can decide to live a
good life and potentially be offered salvation.
o Three types of events: those that are caused by God, those that are caused by us, and
those that appear to be caused by chance (we do not know the cause).
3. Judaeo-Christian tradition – soft determinism
o Humans as autonomous and morally responsible (to care for the world, animals, and for
choosing a companion, therefore have free will.
o However, this freedom is restricted, as humans are punished when they disobey/sin.
o St Paul: Christians have the freedom to accept God into their lives, however the final
destination is determined by God.
May 22
5. Free will and moral responsibility
Moral responsibility:
A free human agent is needed to be morally responsible.
Machines are not morally responsible – the responsibility lies with the conscious agent who
programmed them.
Non-human animals are not morally responsible.
Need a free human agent who can distinguish right from wrong (excludes babies/young children,
the mentally ill, and those under extreme pressure).
Have to consider the content of someone’s moral awareness (e.g., if they have not learnt what
good is or cannot understand it, they cannot be morally responsible).
Sources of moral awareness:
Innate moral sense – “faculty of sympathy” (Hume).
Society – varies cross-culturally over time, therefore raises questions about whether there should
be moral absolutes globally.
Religion – defines the way of life and follows fundamental moral principles. Religious people
encounter good from all three sources.
Determinism:
Epicurus believed that everything was determined, as the world consists of atoms – entirely physical –
therefore we have no freedom of choice.
Determinism: all events and states of affairs are the necessary consequence of previous states of affairs.
Hard determinism = there is no free will due to universal causation (everything has a cause).
Every decision is an event in a chain of causes and effects.
Therefore, there are no ethical choices (and no moral responsibility), as they are all determined –
merely events in the brain.
Reductionism: to understand something complex, it must be reduced to its smallest component parts
I.e., biology is determined by chemistry, which is determined by physics. Therefore, physics
determines everything, including our actions.
What appears complex is actually the cumulative effects of small actions (brain is electrical
impulses, therefore our actions are merely the result of these).
Spinoza: the feeling of freedom is merely ignorance
We are ignorant to all the causes operating on us, thus considering ourselves to be free.
If we knew/considered everything that had happened to us, we would understand that our
choices are determined.
Therefore, (apparent) freedom is due to the limited nature of human awareness – we experience
the process of cause and effect as free will.
Scientific determinism:
Causal determinism = there has been a complete sequence of cause and effect since the big bang
– an omnipotent mind would be aware of every part of this sequence and be able to reverse the
process/trace something back to its origin (unlike the limited human mind).
o LaPlace: the present state of the universe is the effect of its previous state and the cause
of the one to follow (chain of causality) – there are no gaps in this chain for mental
input/free will.
, 2
May 22
Every event is determined by physics. This means that the future is also determined.
Brain = physical (thoughts are merely electrical impulses); everything we call human can be
explained by science.
Avoidance of scientific determinism:
1. If the laws of nature are probabilistic, scientific determinism is not true.
o LoN are based on the current state of affairs and are subject to change with new
evidence.
2. If the quantum world is indeterminate (i.e., there are entities that are not governed by LoN),
scientific determinism is not true.
o Copenhagen interpretation of quantum theory states that laws of quantum world are
indeterministic and probabilistic, suggesting that not everything is determined.
Psychological determinism:
Skinner: all behaviour is a product of genetic and environmental conditions – all human actions
depend on the consequences of previous ones (i.e., conditioning). Link to Pavlov (classical
conditioning).
If an action has a negative consequence it will be avoided, and if it has a positive one it will be
repeated (operant conditioning).
Skinner was a ‘radical behaviourist’, denying the existence of internal psychological states and of
free will (“free will is an illusion”).
EVALUATION:
- Applies animal behaviour to explain human behaviour – humans are rational therefore different.
- If all behaviour is a conditioned response, surely his theory is too, raising questions about its value.
Theological determinism: causal chain can be traced back to an uncaused causer (God)
If God is omnipotent and omniscient, our actions must be determined.
1. Calvin – hard determinism
o Predestination = there is nothing anyone can do to change their fate.
o 5% of the human race are destined for salvation. God’s justice is beyond human
understanding, so this should not be questioned.
o Therefore, there is no free will.
2. St Augustine – soft determinism
o The human will is too corrupt after the fall to perform a good action without the grace of
God.
o Predestination = only those elected by God can reach salvation.
o We can make free choices, but God has foreknowledge of these. We can decide to live a
good life and potentially be offered salvation.
o Three types of events: those that are caused by God, those that are caused by us, and
those that appear to be caused by chance (we do not know the cause).
3. Judaeo-Christian tradition – soft determinism
o Humans as autonomous and morally responsible (to care for the world, animals, and for
choosing a companion, therefore have free will.
o However, this freedom is restricted, as humans are punished when they disobey/sin.
o St Paul: Christians have the freedom to accept God into their lives, however the final
destination is determined by God.
