3. The debate then & now
Psychology still wrestles with the old
philosophical debate of freewill vs.
determinism , which grew out of an even
older debate over the soul called
materialism vs. dualism
4. Dualism:
Each human being consists of two distinct
but conjoined entities, a material body and
an immaterial soul
– The body is part of the natural world
– The soul is supernatural
5. René Descartes (1596-1650)
Dualist
Believed that the body is a
machine and can operate
without the soul- the bodies
of animals are soulless
machines
Said that thoughts are the
one function of the soul
because humans, and not
animals, have them
Equated the idea of soul
with the idea of a mind
6. Materialism
Each human being consists of nothing
more than a physical body.
There is no limit to what can be physically
studied
7. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
Materialist
Said that the spirit, or soul,
is a meaningless concept
and nothing exists but
matter and energy
All the seemingly voluntary
choices we make are
actually physical
processes of the body
Conscious thought is
purely a product of the
brain’s machinery
8. Freewill
Humans are free to choose their behavior
Can reject influences (biological or
environmental) at will
9. Determinism
Every physical event is caused, and, since
human behavior is a physical event, it
follows that it too is caused by preceding
factors
If perfect knowledge is gained of the
current state of the universe, then future
events are entirely predictable
10. Freewill
Pros - Cons
Used in Humanistic and Pure freewill is
cognitive psychology incompatible with the
Introspection on our assumptions of science
decisions seems to It is difficult to define
indicate freewill what freewill is and
Even if humans do not what the self is that
have freewill, the fact does the choosing
that they think they do The evidence of the
has many implications existence of freewill is
for behavior mostly subjective
11. Determinism
Pros - Cons
Used in Behaviorism, Determinism is
sociocultural, inconsistent with
psychodynamic and society’s ideas for self
biological psychology control and
Mental disorders seem responsibility
to indicate a lack of Can never lead to
freewill complete prediction
Determinism is a key Is unfalsifiable since it
assumption of science- always assumes a
which seeks laws of cause exists, even if
cause and effect one has not been found
yet
Notas del editor
Our modern definition of psychology doesn’t end disagreements on the existence of both a soul/mind and the presence of freewill in behavior