Vocabulary and reading quiz Freewill and determinism

Last updated almost 4 years ago

7 questions

Note from the author:

vocabulary and reflection questions to help students clarify their understanding of the basic framework for considering freedom and determinism and causality in the core theme

Required

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Vocabulary and reading quiz Freewill and determinism

Last updated almost 4 years ago

7 questions

Note from the author:

vocabulary and reflection questions to help students clarify their understanding of the basic framework for considering freedom and determinism and causality in the core theme

Required

Match the following terms and definitions.

Draggable item		Corresponding Item
libertarianism		everything has a cause or a set of causes; there are a variety of forms of determinism; human freedom, in general, is restricted or illusory.
fatalism		every human action and choice is the inevitable result of a set of causes; this eliminates the possibility of human freedom; this view is often associated with materialism, such that the mechanisms of the mind (nerves, neurotransmitters) are all results of natural mechanisms.
soft determinism		there are many external factors that influence and limit human actions and choices; while all events are the inevitable result of sets of causes, some causes may remain internal -- the result of mental calculation, over which the person/organism has some control.
compatibilism		the theory according to which human beings are free agents; while the material world is causally determined (billiard balls always move according to the laws of physics), the mental world is not so strongly limited; an element of choice always remains -- especially the choice not to act.
determinism		at least some events are set in advance and there is nothing anyone can do to change them; aspects of a person's life and range of choice are always limited, sometimes determined; though we may experience moments of freedom from time to time.
hard determinism		the idea that determinism and free will are compatible; our choices and actions are free (even if only in limited ways) and determined (to some degree).
incompatibilism		the idea that determinism and free will are incompatible and cannot coexist; either we are completely free or we are not free at all.

Required

Differentiate between potentially caused and uncaused events.
For each item, decide whether it has a cause or has no cause.
There may be a rare instance where we must say we are "uncertain" because we simply cannot be sure; we can only know the probabilities.

Don't worry, you don't have to agree with my "answers" completely to get partial credit.
You may explain your choices in the "show your work" area. (That is, if you really HAVE choices!)

During the Manhattan Project, once scientists removed enough control rods, they were able to start a fission chain reaction of radioactive uranium.
Approximately 13.8 billion years ago, a quantum singularity became radically unstable and rapidly expanded outward forming the known universe and all of its contents.
Johnny dropped a marble; it fell to the ground.
The earth circulates the sun in its orbit.
For no apparent reason, at 10:35 am on Tuesday, April 13, 2019, a humpback whale appeared for 55 seconds on the floor in G-113, Dr. VanderWilt's classroom; it died and then disappeared.
Sarah is screaming; her friend Sally poked her with a big, sharp pin.
According to the Heisenberg Uncertainty principle, we can either know where an electron is or where it is going; we cannot know both at the same time with the same degree of certainty.
Jenna decided to spread fresh strawberry jam on her toast this morning. She could have chosen blueberry, raspberry, or no jam at all.

uncaused events
caused events
uncertain events

Required

A. Johnny dropped a marble.
B. Johnny's marble fell to the ground.

What must be true for there to be a causal relationship between A and B?

Required

All of these are true:
A, Jenna decided to spread fresh strawberry jam on her toast this morning.
B. Jenna could have chosen blueberry jam.
C. Jenna could have chosen raspberry jam.
D. Jenna could have chosen no jam.
E. There was no jam at home for Jenna to spread on her toast this morning.

What is Jenna free to do?

Select all the options that are possibly correct.
You may explain your choices in the "show your work" area. (That is, if you really HAVE choices!)

Required

The idea of a "cause without a cause" is important in philosophy of religion. It is used in several demonstrations for the existence of God. If I had asked you about "God" in question 2, for example, you should have to place it in the category of "uncaused events." (according to Aristotle and nearly all of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim philosophers).

One argument looks like this:
1. Everything has a cause.
2. If we trace back from effect to cause, effect to cause, backward in time, we need to find at least one cause that was not itself caused. There has to be a "first cause."
3. If the chain of effects to causes is infinite, then the universe could not exist, because it would have never started ...
4. If the chain of causes to effects is infinite, then we could not be "at this time," because it would have taken an infinite amount of time before we could arrive at this moment ...
5. Therefore, there must be at least one event that caused a second event, but itself was never caused by a prior event. That event we call "God." (Summarizing one argument from Thomas Aquinas)

The idea here is that an INFINITE REGRESS is impossible. (Some will later argue, suggesting there is no reason why there might not, in fact, be an infinite regress to account for the universe... Save that thought for now.)

A. What do you think of an argument that asserts that "everything has a cause," but also at least one thing "causes everything but is not caused by anything"?
B. Even so, suppose for a moment that this argument is valid and sound, what does this say about the possibility of there being freedom in the universe?

Respond in 3 to 4 sentences to both parts of the question.

Required

Give an example of a time when you felt you had "freedom of mind."
Give another example of a time when you felt you had "freedom of action."

Required

Give an example of a time when you wanted to make a choice but circumstances limited the range of actions you could take.
What are existentialists referring to when they call these circumstances "givenness"?

Vocabulary and reading quiz Freewill and determinism

Vocabulary and reading quiz Freewill and determinism

Match the following terms and definitions.

A. Johnny dropped a marble.B. Johnny's marble fell to the ground.What must be true for there to be a causal relationship between A and B?

Give an example of a time when you felt you had "freedom of mind."Give another example of a time when you felt you had "freedom of action."

Give an example of a time when you wanted to make a choice but circumstances limited the range of actions you could take. What are existentialists referring to when they call these circumstances "givenness"?

Match the following terms and definitions.

A. Johnny dropped a marble.B. Johnny's marble fell to the ground.What must be true for there to be a causal relationship between A and B?

Give an example of a time when you felt you had "freedom of mind."Give another example of a time when you felt you had "freedom of action."

Give an example of a time when you wanted to make a choice but circumstances limited the range of actions you could take. What are existentialists referring to when they call these circumstances "givenness"?

A. Johnny dropped a marble.
B. Johnny's marble fell to the ground.

What must be true for there to be a causal relationship between A and B?

Give an example of a time when you felt you had "freedom of mind."
Give another example of a time when you felt you had "freedom of action."

Give an example of a time when you wanted to make a choice but circumstances limited the range of actions you could take.
What are existentialists referring to when they call these circumstances "givenness"?

A. Johnny dropped a marble.
B. Johnny's marble fell to the ground.

What must be true for there to be a causal relationship between A and B?

Give an example of a time when you felt you had "freedom of mind."
Give another example of a time when you felt you had "freedom of action."

Give an example of a time when you wanted to make a choice but circumstances limited the range of actions you could take.
What are existentialists referring to when they call these circumstances "givenness"?