Pan-Determinism

• the view which disregards the human

capacity to take a stand toward any
conditions and whatsoever
• human person is not free
• human actions, decisions and behavior is
determined by biological, psychological and
sociological conditions
 Biological
Determinism
 Freedom as an Illusion
• Biological determinism refers to the idea that all
human behavior is innate, determined by genes,
brain size, or other biological attributes.
• Personality simply a matter of genes, brains, and
hormones
• Behavior is determined by biological tendencies
• Minimizes the human potential for growth and
change
Psychological
Determinism
 Freedom as an Illusion
• According to Freud, human actions are not free.
• There are three levels of the mind
✓Pre-conscious Level
✓Conscious Level
✓Unconscious Level
• Freedom for Freud is an illusion because human
decisions, actions, and behaviors are determined
by those instincts, drives,hopes, wishes and past
experience which humans are not aware of and of
which they have no control.
 Three Levels of the Mind
• There are three levels of the mind
✓Pre-conscious Level – pertains to the
memories and stored knowledge that a person
is not currently aware of but can be brought to
the present awareness easily by remembering.
✓Conscious Level – pertains to a person’s
current awareness.
✓Unconscious Level – pertains to those fears,
motives, sexual desires, wishes, urges, needs
and past experiences that a person is not
currently aware of and which cannot be easily
brought to the conscious level, determines
human behaviour.
Sociological
Determinism
 Freedom as an Illusion
• According to Skinner, there is no autonomous
agent in humans that determines their actions
• Human behaviour is shaped by external factors
(surrounding environment) and not the inner self
• Actions that produce good consequences should
be reinforced and actions that do not, should not
be repeated.
• Reward and punishment mechanism is an
imperative in shaping and changing human
behaviour.
 The Social Institutions
• These social institutions are already present to introduce the
idea of values, morality, religion, culture and etc. to us:
✓The Family – taught us economic, moral, and spiritual
values
✓The School – taught us how we think
✓The Church – taught us the concept of spirituality, faith
and heaven
✓The State – through its’ laws and institutions prescribed
us what ought to be done and what ought to be avoided
 In conclusion

• The society we live in – its education, culture,

tradition, religion, influences, shapes,
conditions and even determines the way we
think, act and behave.
Human Person as a
Self-Determining
Being
 Viktor Frankl (1973) against Pan
Determinism
• Biologically, all persons have
individual genetic endowments.
• Psychologically, they have varying
instincts and drives that are part
and parcel of their human nature.
• And sociologically, they are thrown
into different social conditions of
which they have no control but can
choose.
For Frankl, human freedom does not exist in a
vacuum. To be free means to be free from.
• Freedom always presupposes a condition or a
restriction. Without condition or restriction,
there is nothing from which a person can be
freed.
 Who is Nick Vujicic?
Nicholas James Vujicic is a Serbian-
Australian, born with tetra-amelia
syndrome, a rare disorder characterized by
the absence of arms and legs. Nick Vujicic is
an evangelist who has shared his message of
hope to over 6 million people in 57 countries.
Given a positive mental attitude, a human
person, like Nick Vujicic, can transcend his/her
physical condition in order to succeed in life.
 Against Psychological Determinism
• Contrary to Freud, Plato says that reason has the power to
govern both our appetite and emotion.
• Kant states that humans may sometimes act according to
the dictate of their desires but they have the capacity to
choose what is right.
• Psychological states are real but humans have the power to
be aware, process, and to use them to their advantage
rather that being driven by them. This proves, once again,
that a human person is free as opposed to what
psychological determinism posits.
 Against Sociological Determinism

• The environment does not completely determine

human behavior
• Frankl contends that a human person is not a mere
object in the world.
• A person is a self-determining being amidst
constraining conditions.