Free will & Determinism

Clarence Darrow people are the product of their upbringing and society
We cant assume that we are each responsible for our individual
actions
Honderich we cannot blame and it is pointless to punish because everything
has been determined
No choice
No responsibility
Compatibilism and incompatibilism are rubbish terms! He agrees
with neither of them
Ravizza because we can make choices we must have free will
If we believe in determinism we dont do anything progression isnt
made and things become pointless
Caplan there must be cause and effect in order for us to have free choices
If there is no cause and effect, the choices we make will lead to
uncertain outcomes
Compatibilist
Moral responsibility is real
We do not have to conform to the apparent deterministic traits
Leibniz theological determinist
God has preordained all things
Steven Pinker emotions have a psychological basis: guilt, love, anger,
sympathy
Moral reasoning has come about by natural selection
We have a moral sense deep within us
We still have moral responsibility evolution may predispose us to
certain way but we do not have to follow that
Compatibilist
John Hospers determinist
We always think that were choosing freely, something makes us
feel this way
B.F. Skinner operant conditioning: by rewards and punishment we can make
people act in a certain way
Behaviour reinforcement
 Positive and negative: reward and punish
Arranging the environment can change behaviour
John B. Watson behaviourism hard core determinism
Behaviour can be predicted and controlled
Prior causes are in theory detectable and knowable, these control
our behaviour
Heredity and environment control behaviour
We can change the environment, thus changing behaviour
Influenced by Pavlov
Augustine predestination
Only God can help us to do God, he decides who he does good to and
who gets his grace
Calvin predestination
We cant come to God cause we are too sinful He must come to us: He
decides
People are evil by nature
Were so sinful that nobody could be saved unless God chooses them
Hume soft determinist
Because of determinism we are morally responsible
We can choose how we act
John Locke freedom is illusion
Locked room
We are ignorant, think were free
Determinist
Virtue Ethics
Martha Nussbaum phronesis: you have to use your virtuosity to perform good
actions
Robert Louden virtue theory doesnt help us to know what to do in any specific
moral situations
Its not always easy to say if somebody is virtuous, because we
cant know how theyre feeling/ why they choose to do something, we dont know
if they do things because they are virtuous or not
Walter Schaller Macintyre thinks virtue theory gets away from the concept of
duty but it doesnt really
James F. Keenan virtue ethics is positive because it helps us to grow as people
and achieve
We need to ask of ourselves: who am i? who ought I to
become? How do I get there?
G.E.M. Annscombe its wrong to associate good with the actions people take.
We should focus rather on the goodness of people
Michael Slote virtues are generally about what Is common sense and about
what intuitions we have
Its about being empathetic and showing compassion to others, that
helps us to be virtuous
Its about why you do something that matters
We cant just follow rules, we have to be sentimental in what we do
Warm virtue ethics
Rosalind Hursthouse fan of Aristotle
If we are virtuous we can reach eudaimonia
Virtues help us to reason practically
If we can see how a virtuous person would be likely to think
we can see how they might successfully make choices in a moral situation
Theoretical/cool virtue ethics
If we become virtuous people we will live virtuously
Alasdair MacIntyre ethical theories are so varied that they just cause
arguments
People are too subjective these days-big flaw
 If people have common goals, we can work together
virtuously
You are what you do
Philippa Foot we have to practice virtues if they are to become a part of what
we do
Virtues help as achieve
Harmful passions and temptations can be corrected with the
practice of virtues
Virtues are objective
Warm virtue ethics
Elizabeth Anscombe we dont need God to flourish as human beings, we can do
it through development of virtues
Virtue ethics is positive because it emphasises community
but act based ethics just emphasise autonomous morality
Its important that a moral agents intention
Motive/warm ethics
Aristotle eudaimonia and purpose
Intellectual and moral virtues
We need to practice virtues and use reason
Reason is the most important we can understand and then respond
Golden mean
Virtues help society
We can follow examples of people to become more virtuous
Good can be found in this world
Plato actions are good when they help us achieve virtue
Temperance, courage, prudence, justice with these in balance a persons
actions are good