Homework: With reference to religious teaching outline determinism and libertarianism. 30 marks

For determinists everything that happens is caused by a prior event, the law of causality. The idea states that there are laws of nature that govern everything that happens and therefore an external force causes all our actions. Because of this, within determinism, free will is an illusion and moral responsibility is flawed. This perspective can be observed within Christian teaching and is most often referred to as ‘predestination’. An example of this is Augustine’s writing on Divine Election in which he states “The potter has authority over the clay, to make on vessel for honour and another for contempt”. This suggests that before birth God has already elected who will go to Heaven and Hell and eliminates any concept of humans having freedom to shape their own future. This is reinforced by teachings such as Ecclesiastes 3:1 which claims there is an “appointed time for everything” and the Calvinist approach which sees predestination as the “eternal decree of God”.

In opposition to this, Libertarianism rejects the belief in determination and view humans as free autonomous agents who are therefore responsible for all their actions. This is also the traditional Judeo-Christian approach on human free will. An example is within The Fall in Genesis, in which Adam and Eve exercise their free will by eating the forbidden fruit and by doing so, disobey God and bring sin into the world. This is also discussed by the Christian Theologian Aquinas, who argues, “man chooses not out of necessity, but freely” (Summa Theologica). He argues that using ones reason to free oneself from passions or desires brings about human free will. Equally Mark Talbot introduces the concept of Imago Dei Voluntatis, which argues that because humans are in God’s image, we are free just as he is.

However, a problem with religious concepts of free will is the idea that God is omniscient, because if God is seen to know everything past, present and future, surely the actions we consider as freely made are actually already set and determined. For example the verse in Psalm 139 “Before the word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely” reveals God to know all our actions before we have made them. This problem of Divine Foreknowledge can be seen to have led to a middle way between determinism and libertarianism, the approach of Compatibilism. This is the idea that it is possible to be both free and determined as some aspects of our nature are determined due to prior events but our ability to make free decisions is not undermined by these. Within Christianity this can be interpreted as shown in Proverbs 16:9 and the idea that “the heart of man plays his way, but the Lord establishes his steps”.

Human Free Will and Determinism

The concepts of Determinism, Compatibilism and Libertarianism are key to our understanding of human free will, or the lack of it. They also raise questions as to whether we can truly be held responsible for our actions. Because if, as determinists argue, all our actions are pre-determined and brought about by past events, how can anyone ever be held responsible for any action they take?

Taking this approach of thinking on human freedom can be problematic however, as it defeats any desire to ever do anything and all becomes meaningless!  It is also arguably difficult to believe that every action a person makes has already been decided, because whilst we make these choices, we feel a sense of freedom.

As mentioned, another theory on human free will is that of Libertarianism. This is the opposite of determinism and instead argues that we are free autonomous agents who are able to make free moral choices. However, libertarians do not argue for absolute freedom, as our bodies and minds are formed by genetics and develop in certain environments. Because of this, they would argue we each have a pre disposition to certain behaviors and therefore; there are set limits on the choices we make.

 It can be argued that this, along with the similar ideas of soft determinists, is a far more realistic approach to the concept of free will as it both views humans as free in their choice and therefore responsible, whilst also paying attention to how cultural, genetic and other external factors can affect how a person acts and how free they are in making certain choices.