Free Will vs Determinism

All human behaviour is determined

Defined by scientific psychologists, determinism explains that all human behaviours are causal links from different factors, which in turn makes them predictable and that one has no real control over his/her own actions (Baumeister, 2008).

A prominent forefather of psychology was one of the first to assert this claim using results from his research. Skinner (1984) beliefs that external stimuli and the resultant conditioning is all that govern ones behavior and in which, free will is merely an illusion. Such a claim suggests that environmental influences are the be-all and end-all determinant of human behavior. This drew much contention from other researchers who think he downplayed the potential of genetics and human freedom (Chomsky, 1971; Thorne & Sanders, 2013). Thus, some geneticists believe that an individual’s genetic makeup is instead the single determinant in how one acts and behaves in every aspect. They call it biologism (Velden, 2010). This claim provides the other extreme to what Skinner had suggested. That instead of external events, it is only the intrinsic blueprint of a person that entirely determines his/her behaviour.

Despite the contrast, both claims elicit different factors and seem to adequately cover the grounds of what determines behaviour, either internal or external. Even if we agree that there is no single determinant that can predispose the entirety of a person’s behavior, and concede that environment and genetic both plays a part, it would still suggest that all behaviors are determined and that there is no room for freedom. Is the argument against determinism of all behavior a lost cause?

All is not lost, as studies emerging from neuroscience elucidate evidences of free will residing in the brain, specifically the prefrontal cortex (Udell, 2009; de Jong, 2011). Higher-order functions of one’s behaviour which includes planning, reasoning and even lying is attributed to it (Karim et al., 2009). These studies have shown that the impairment of carefully thought actions and an increament in reflex-like behaviour has been consistently present in people with prefrontal lesions (Picton et al., 2006; de Jong, 2001). The loss of prefrontal functions leading to uninhibition of an individual’s actions seem to strongly suggest that the prefrontal cortex serves as an interceptor between one’s behavior and simply responding to external and internal drives. Indeed, researches have supported that processes in the prefrontal cortex allows one to evaluate their conscious experience and generate a response through reasoning (Passingham, Bengtsson & Lau, 2010).

Therefore, it might be impossible to argue that all human behaviours are not determine despite higher-order functions, as both environmental and genetics inevitably plays a part. Nevertheless, it seems completely plausible to argue instead, that not all human behaviour is determined, only some are. The existence of prefrontal cortex provides human with a certain degree of freedom instead of being bound only to instinctive response towards internal and external stimuli. The concept of freedom existing within determinism was coined by William James as Soft Determinism (James, 1897).

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References

Baumeister, R. F. (2008). Perspectives on Psychological Science. Free Will in Scientific Psychology, 3(1), 14-19. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-6916.2008.00057.x

Skinner, B. F. (1984). Selection by Consequences. Behavioural and Brain Sciences, 7(4), 477-510.

Chomsky, N. (1971). The New York Review of Books. The Case Against B.F. Skinner (pp. 1-12).

Thorne, B., Sanders, P. (2013). Criticisms and Rebuttals. In, Carl Rogers (3rd ed.) (pp. 65-69). London: Sage Publications.

Velden, M. (2010). Explaining Psychological Process via Biology (biologism). In, Biologism: The consequence of an Illusion (pp. 13-15). Goettingen: V&R unipress.

Udell, M. (2009). Neuroscience, Free Will and Crimincal Justice (pp. 1-14).

de Jong, B. M. (2011). Cortex. Neurology of Wisely Embedded Free Will, 47(10), 1160-1165.

Karim, A. A., Schneider, M., Lotze, M., Veit, R., Sauseng, P., Braun, C., & Birbaumer, N. (2009). Cerebral Cortex. The Truth about Lying: Inhibition of the Anterior Prefrontal Cortex Improves Deceptive Behavior, 20(1), 205-213.

Picton, T. W., Stuss, D. T., Alexander, M. P., Shallice, T., Binns, M. A., & Gillingham, S. (2006). Cerebral Cortex. Effects of Focal Frontal Lesions on Response Inhibition, 17(4), 826-838.

Passingham, R. E., Bengtsson, S. L., Lau, H. C. (2010). Trends Cogn Sci. Medial Frontal Cortex: from self-generated action to reflection on one 's own performance, 14(1), 16-21. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2009.11.001

James, W. (1897). The Will to Believe and Other Essay (pp. 1-13). London: Longmans.

References: Baumeister, R. F. (2008). Perspectives on Psychological Science. Free Will in Scientific Psychology, 3(1), 14-19 Skinner, B. F. (1984). Selection by Consequences. Behavioural and Brain Sciences, 7(4), 477-510. Chomsky, N. (1971). The New York Review of Books. The Case Against B.F. Skinner (pp Thorne, B., Sanders, P. (2013). Criticisms and Rebuttals. In, Carl Rogers (3rd ed.) (pp Velden, M. (2010). Explaining Psychological Process via Biology (biologism). In, Biologism: The consequence of an Illusion (pp Udell, M. (2009). Neuroscience, Free Will and Crimincal Justice (pp. 1-14). de Jong, B (2009). Cerebral Cortex. The Truth about Lying: Inhibition of the Anterior Prefrontal Cortex Improves Deceptive Behavior, 20(1), 205-213. (2006). Cerebral Cortex. Effects of Focal Frontal Lesions on Response Inhibition, 17(4), 826-838. Passingham, R. E., Bengtsson, S. L., Lau, H. C. (2010). Trends Cogn Sci. Medial Frontal Cortex: from self-generated action to reflection on one 's own performance, 14(1),