Real-world Application
Type: Strength
- Determinism can explain complex mental disorders such as schizophrenia
- Schizophrenia sufferers experience a complete loss over control of their thoughts and behaviour
- This casts doubt on the concept of free will as no-one would choose to have schizophrenia
- This therefore suggests that, at least for mental illnesses, behaviour is determined and not due to free will
Legal System
Type: Criticism
- Determinism is not consistent with how the legal system operates
- In a court of law, offenders are held personally and morally accountable for their actions
- This contradicts the idea of determinism as it suggests that if an individual commits a crim they have made a moral choice to do so
Healthy
Type: Strength
- Believing that we have control over our behaviour is healthy
- Research suggests that people who believe they have a higher degree of influence over events and their own behaviour are more mentally healthy
- Suggests that simply believing that we have free will may have a more positive impact on the mind
Neurological Research
Type: Criticism
- Neurological research contradicts the idea of free will
- Shows that even our most basic experience of free will are decided and determined by our brain before we become aware of them
Compromise
Type: Criticism
- An argument solely against determinist or free will is an interactionist position
- SLT shows that we learn behaviours through imitation, whether we choose to imitate is down to our free will
- Showing that determinism and free will both contribute to our behaviour