METHODS OF PHILOSOPHY

- Are you free?

FREEDOM AS AN ILLUSION
- Freedom is the illusion of an imprisoned mind. - Leonid S. Sukhorukov
- we deliberate before we decide
- we choose a course of action only after weighing all the considerations involved
- we are the cause of our actions and decisions
- we are influenced by many factors– biological, psychological, and sociological
- therefore, are we truly free? Or constrained by these factors?
- pan-determinism rejects the idea that the human person is free
- it is the view which disregards the capacity to take a stand toward any conditions whatsoever
- it states that a human person is not free because his/her decisions, actions, and behavior are determined
by the biological, psychological, and sociological conditions
BIOLOGICAL DETERMINISM
- human genetic make-up plays a big role in human behavior, attitude, and personality
- what humans are and what they will be is determined by their biological make-up
- we are pre-disposed to decide, act, or behave in a certain way
- there are humans who are calm, kind, friendly, and sociable, while there are others who are opposite
- whether we like it or not, our biological constitution affects the way we decide, act, and behave
- we are not free from biological determinism
- this explains why it is difficult to change attitude, behavior, and personality no matter how hard we try
PSYCHOLOGICAL DETERMINISM
- according to Sigmund Freud, humans are not free because we manifest the various mental states, which
we are aware of
- this mental state governs our decisions, actions, and behaviors
- there are the levels of the mind in Freudian psychology: the conscious, pre-conscious, and unconscious
levels
- the conscious level pertains to the person’s current awareness
- the preconscious level pertains to memories and stored knowledge that a person is aware of but can be
brought easily through the process of remembering
- the unconscious level are the fears, motives, sexual desires, wishes, urges, and past experiences that a
person is aware of but cannot be easily brought to the conscious level
- In this concept of the mind, does it make sense to say that humans are free? Freud’s answer is, “No.
Because human freedom is an illusion.”
- our actions, decisions, and behaviors are determined by our instincts, drives, hopes, wishes, and past
experiences which we are aware of but do not have any control over it
- Suppose you will choose from these guys who are courting you for more than a year.
Freud insists that our choice is predetermined
your choice is the product of your values, preferences, wishes and hopes, and past experiences that
continue to determine your present decision
SOCIOLOGICAL DETERMINISM
- according to Burrhus Frederic (B.F.) Skinner, there is no autonomous agent in humans that surround their
actions
- we are shaped by our external actions, and not the inner self
- actions that produce good consequences are reinforced; actions that yield negative effects are not to be
repeated
- therefore, we depend on the consequences and not on deliberate choices
- positive or negative reinforcements (reward and punishment mechanisms) is imperative to shaping and
changing human behavior
- the best way to shape and change human behavior is through a reinforcing environment
- Good study habit is not a product of conscious human decision. It is a consequence of a reinforcing
environment such as a home of a studious family, or a school that awards academic performance.
- according to B.F. Skinner, the consequences of behavior determine the probability that the behavior will
occur again
- therefore, if human behavior is determined by its consequences, reinforced if it has pleasant
consequences and punished if it has unpleasant consequences, then it is extremely determined
- even before we developed the capacity to think, so much has already been introduced to us
- from birth till the time we developed our capacity to think, our society had already been there, shaping,
influencing, and controlling the way we think and how we live our lives
- the four major institutions of society– the family, the school, the church, and the state, ingrained upon us
the values, religion, morality, culture, etc., because it wanted us to have an ideal life
- the family taught us economic moral, and spiritual values
- the school taught us how to think
- the church introduced us the concept of heaven and hell
- the state prescribed to us what ought to be done and avoided through its laws
- Given this power and influence by the four institutions, is it possible for us to develop an independent
thinking, which is imperative to the existence of our freedom?
- How can we freely choose our values, when from the beginning these values had already been chosen for
us?
- for the pan-determinists, the society we live in – its education, culture, tradition, religion – influences,
shapes, conditions, and even determines the way we think, act, and behave

- If freedom is just an illusion, how do we make sense of human responsibility?